Satori in Kalos
by DeltaNovember
Summary: Join Komeiji Satori on her journey through the Kalos region as she meets Touhou and Pokemon characters alike, gets in trouble with the notorious Team Flare and uncovers the most legendary of Pokemon. Will she make it all the way to the championship? Updates Thursdays.
1. Bug

**Author's Forward**

_Author's notes will be in my **profile page, **not in the main text. They'll be spoiler-free and hopefully on-point. _

_Disclaimer: Rated T for coarse language/graphic violence. I shored up my Y knowledge by watching Foxiify's let's play videos on Youtube (although I did complete the game myself). Obviously I don't own Pokemon/Touhou._

**Chapter 1  
>Bug<strong>

The disconnect between one's thoughts and one's actions was usually so disgusting, Satori found herself almost relieved at her companion's honesty. Calem wasn't afraid to express exactly how much he hated her.

"Here's your ID, I'm sure even _you_ know what_—_"

"It identifies oneself as a trainer." Satori swiped the card out of Calem's hand. She took a look at it and saw her name, her picture, and a bunch of other information she didn't care about.

"And here's the_—_"

"Pokedex, which allows one to identify unknown pokemon."

"Would you let me finish my damn_—_"

"Sentences?" Satori smiled. "Maybe you shouldn't take so long to complete your thoughts."

Calem sighed and pulled out the last thing from his bag, a red-and-white pokeball. "Professor Sycamore asked me to_—_" Calem paused, waiting for Satori to interrupt him again. He rolled his eyes when she didn't. "He asked me to walk you through being a trainer, but you obviously don't need it."

"Sorry, did you have a speech planned?" Satori asked. Her reply only elicited another sigh out of Calem, who turned his gaze towards the sky.

Their conversations always went like this. Well, actually, most of Satori's conversations went like this. Consequently they never lasted long, but today Calem had an _obligation _to get across information to her. Orders from the good professor Sycamore.

He _did _have a speech planned, and Satori did learn valuable information from it. All the basic information one needs to know to be a proper pokemon trainer. She just happened to hear it before a word of it left Calem's mouth, which rendered the entire subsequent conversation redundant.

_I wish you would just refuse the professor so I never have to see you again._

Satori snapped her fingers to catch Calem's attention. "Hey, do you even want me to come with you?" She asked.

"No. You should tell Sycamore 'no thank you' and go crawl back into that youkai house you live in."

Ah, that refreshing honesty again.

"Too bad," Satori said and grabbed the pokeball. "Who is this, then? I thought we got a choice of our starters."

"Shauna and I already chose ours, so you get what's left."

Satori looked down at the pokeball in her hand. _What's left. _She was fine with that, though. She prided herself on giving a home to the little birds and kittens of the world who had nowhere else to go. She pressed the button on the pokeball and tossed it onto the table. In a flash of light, a fox-like creature appeared munching on a twig. Its fur was red and yellow.

_A Fennekin, _Calem thought. "That's a_—_"

"Fennekin, yes." Satori said.

"Oh to hell with it." Calem grabbed his backpack. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, don't be late or we're leaving without you."

Calem stomped off towards his home, leaving Satori alone on the park bench. There were a few other people around and some kids playing on the playground, but they all kept their distance from her. She ignored it and focused on the Fennekin. It looked up at her.

_I've never seen someone like that, what's that thing around her neck? Are you my new master?_

Satori pet the little fox on the head. "Yes, and it's my Third Eye."

_What? _Fennekin raised its head to meet Satori's eyes. _Did you just answer my question?_

"I did." Satori smiled. She liked this part.

_You can understand me?  
><em>

"I can." Satori picked up the Fennekin and held it close to her chest. "Come on, let's go home."

Satori's home was a little two-story house in the small village of Vaniville. It was plain and simple, not something that would stand out from a casual glance. The only reason it had gained notoriety was from its residents.

When Satori arrived she found a couple of stray cats lurking at the gate. They followed her through as if it were a routine—which it was. She never turned away a guest, it was just a rare occasion guests were anything other than animals. She laid out bowls of milk for cats, had feeders hanging for birds, and kept her house warm for anyone looking for a place to stay the night.

But again, only animals took her up on that offer.

"Satori's back," Utsuho exclaimed as Satori walked through her front door. Utsuho then tackled her to the floor in a tight embrace. Fennekin had the presence of mind to leap out of Satori's arms before the impact and had gracefully landed on the carpet. "You were gone so long," Utsuho said.

"It was less than an hour, Okuu," Satori responded. Satori didn't make any move to push her off though, the hug felt nice. Utsuho eventually stood up of her own accord, brushing off her wings and smiling as she helped Satori up.

Only animals took Satori up on her kindness, and despite her almost-human appearance Utsuho was closer to a crow than she was to any human. A _youkai, _which most people decided was a synonym for 'monster.'

"Hey Satori," a voice said from across the room. _Okuu's driving me crazy, Satori, she was pacing back and forth the entire time you were gone. I'm gunna die if you leave._

"Hello Orin," Satori said. The other youkai living in the house, Rin, was playing a game on the flatscreen. Surrounding her were numerous cats, all of which felt extremely jealous of one of their brethren. Satori noticed one lucky cat had claimed the spot next to the computer's exhaust fan. "You usually hate it when my pets touch your computer."

_It's cool now, literally. I added three super powerful fans. _Rin paused the game and stood up. Some of the cats instantly took over her seat on the couch. _Seriously though, are you actually leaving?_

Satori nodded and held up her trainer ID card that Calem had given her. "It's not in good taste to refuse a professor's invite. At the very least I need to go see him and hear him out."

Utsuho's wings drooped. _But I don't want you to leave._

Satori gave Utsuho a pat on her head. "I'm sorry, but you'll be fine without me. And we can talk over the phone and on video. Ask Orin to show you how."

"Eheheh..." Rin scratched her ear. "I'm going to want to call you just as often as Okuu."

"Yeah, see," Utsuho exclaimed. "Orin doesn't want you to go either."

Satori sighed. If she was being honest with herself, she wasn't exactly looking forward to it. She liked her life, just living day by day and enjoying herself with her pets. It was fine, fun even. But there _was _an entire world out there, a world she had not seen in years. Decades. She was overcome with one of those feelings that this was the right choice.

After all, usually the right choice is the one that is the hardest to make.

"Tell you what," Satori said. "I'll cook your guys' favorite dinner tonight and we'll have a little party."

Rin and Utsuho cheered, leaving their dreary thoughts behind. Despite being so human-like, they were both animal youkai. Utsuho was a crow and Rin a cat, and their desires were easy to manage. They liked eating things, and Rin liked sleeping a whole lot. Almost as much as she liked laying on the couch all day doing nothing but playing video games. Utsuho on the other hand liked magnets, whatever that meant.

When night came, Satori cooked up an entire fish for Rin and a huge variety platter for Utsuho. She wasn't the best cook, but her pets weren't picky eaters. It was still better than anything anyone else would give them.

But before she knew it the next morning had arrived, and the time she had agreed to meet Calem was inching closer and closer. It was very early, the sun just barely peeking up over the horizon. She gathered everything she could think of that she would need, although she knew she would forget something or other.

_Mornin. _Rin pulled herself up from the couch. She had a bed and a room for herself, but more often than not she just fell asleep in the living room.

"Good morning," Satori said. "Sleep well?"

_Not really. Nervous. _

"You'll be fine." Satori took a glance at the clock. She would have to meet Calem in about half an hour. "I'll make us some breakfast, would you go wake Okuu?"

_Sure. _Rin trotted up the stairs, leaving Satori to fry some eggs and bacon. About the time that Satori served the first plate, Rin came back down the stairs with Utsuho behind her.

"Mmmm, that smells good~" Utsuho floated over to the table and Satori smiled as she placed a plate in front of her. She then served Rin before finally serving herself, and the three of them sat down at the table. Satori's other pets looked on with envy, but they had their own meals they would be getting later.

"You two will take care of this place while I'm away, right?" Satori asked.

"Omf coufrf!" Utsuho said with her mouth full. _Of course._

Satori nodded, and picked at her food. She wasn't really hungry, but it would be good to get some food into her. Rin was of a similar mindset, although Utsuho was happily chowing down.

_So what exactly are you going to do on your journey? _Rin looked up at Satori, although she didn't say anything out loud. Communication was like this in her house, usually one-sided conversations. To an outside observer it would look like Satori was just talking to herself, but conversation really was happening.

The trick was that Satori was the only one who could hear thoughts, which made three-way conversations tricky. "I'm not sure what I'll do on my journey," Satori said. "Just follow Calem's directive, for however long that lasts."

"Maybe you'll run into Koishi," Utsuho exclaimed before taking another bite.

Satori smiled. "Maybe, but she's a hard one to find."

The conversation could have lasted hours. Satori was tempted to just keep sitting at the table, talking, letting her appointment time come and go and going on as usual. But, well, Satori had already made her decision.

"Alright, you two. It's time."

Rin and Utsuho were sad at the news, but they new it was coming. Both of them gave Satori a big hug before stepping back and waving Satori off.

_We're going to call you every day, you know. _Rin smiled.

Satori gave her two pets a smile and one last wave before leaving her house and heading towards the town square. She went straight to the gate and found Calem waiting, Shauna nowhere to be seen. When he saw Satori approaching, he gave her a halfhearted wave.

_Great, I have to be alone with the freak. _"Morning," Calem commented. "You ready to set out?"

"Not as ready as you. You look like you've been waiting your whole life for this moment." Satori glanced at his backpack, which has all manner of hooks and cords that secured his belongings and sleeping bag in easy to access places. He also had a smaller bag slung around his shoulder that Satori could see contained a number of pokeballs—despite the fact he only had one pokemon.

"Hmph." Calem snorted. _So my parents prepared me. No need to be mean about it._

Satori rocked back and fourth on her feet. "Do you think your parents will respect you if you become the champion?" she asked.

Calem visibly sucked in his breath at that comment. _This is why I don't like you, you just say things like that. _He stayed silent though, and turned his head away from the companion he would be journeying with. Satori didn't push it further while she waited for Shauna to show up.

The silence was a bit awkward, but the early morning masked it. The entire town was so quiet, it felt a bit natural. That silence was interrupted as Shauna came barreling down the central street in her flamboyantly pink tee.

"Morning," she shouted. Calem kicked himself off the wall on at Shauna's arrival.

"Ready to go, Shauna?" he asked.

"Let's do it." And with that, the three of them—Calem, Shauna and Satori—began their pokemon journey across Kalos.

But the first leg of their journey would prove to be boring. The hour-long walk from Vaniville to Aquacorde showed that the three of them could not keep any sort of conversation going for more than a few minutes. Calem would start talking about his knowledge of Pokemon, but Shauna would get bored with all the details. And Satori wasn't exactly helpful in keeping conversations up.

"Hey, Satori." Shauna asked about mid-way into their walk. The typical conversation topics had all been exhausted by this point. Were they really going to spend a _year _traveling together? Satori looked over.

"Yes?"

"Well, why, ummm. Why do you just let your Fennekin follow you around instead of being in its pokeball?"

Satori looked down, and saw Fennekin trotting beside her with its twig in its mouth. It took a moment before it realized it was being paid attention to, and turned up to the two girls staring down at it. _What are you looking at, you two?_

"Fennekin, you want to ride in your pokeball?" Satori asked simply out loud.

_It's boring in there, and the weather's so nice today. Maybe if it was raining I'd prefer the ball._ Satori looked up back towards Shauna, satisfied.

"She doesn't want to."

Shauna and Calem looked at her inquisitively. "D-Doesn't want to?" Shauna asked.

Satori just nodded. "Maybe you should ask yourselves why you're keeping _your _pokemon trapped on this beautiful day, instead of letting them out to play like Fennekin."

_Hey, you stole that from me, master!_

Calem and Shauna looked a bit guilty at this, and although they were reluctant to prove Satori right they summoned their own pokemon.

The three pokemon began to play with each other. Calem's Froakie would run around nimbly while Fennekin and Chester tried to keep up. The three trainers watched their pokemon play while they walked to Aquacorde, which passed the time much more comfortably. Aquacorde wasn't more than an hour away from Vaniville though, so the group decided to just pass through it on their way to Santalune. By the end of the day though they only made it a third of the way to the forest.

"Hey, I hear something." Shauna said in the late afternoon.

Calem stopped and listened for a moment before nodding in agreement. "That's the river," he said. "It veers to the right and comes right alongside the road. We can follow it tomorrow."

"And that?" Shauna asked pointing ahead. A small ways in the distance, tall grass could be seen about waist-high. It was a bright green, the grass clearly growing well and full of life.

Calem put his hands on his hips. "Kalos is covered in grass like that," he said. "That's generally where we'll encounter pokemon. Tomorrow I'll show you two how to capture one."

"A little proud of yourself, eh?" Satori asked. Calem's face went red.

The sun lowered slowly in the sky, and the trainers decided to make camp by the roadside. A few other travelers had pitched tents near them, also traveling north towards Santalune City. Apparently their plan was a common one—camp at the border of both fields of tall grass, camp in front of the forest, and then enter on the third morning.

The three trainers rested well, the sun waking them mid-morning. As Satori sat up from her bedroll, she saw Calem sitting on a log next to a fire. He had a frying pan in his hand and was cooking some eggs. Satori stood up and wandered over, plopping herself down on the grass.

"Make any for me?"

"Make your own damn eggs."

Satori pouted, but dragged her bag over to get the tools required. Although the television shows Satori watched always glamorized trainers, the truth was that they actually had to carry a lot of gear. Being a pokemon trainer was mostly just camping and hiking, with short bursts of excitement when a battle would occur.

With a large crack, Satori broke her egg on the edge of her own frying pan and held it over the fire next to Calem's. The smell must have wafted over to Shauna, because she shot up from her slumber and turned her head towards the fire.

"That smells good," she said with a ravenous look in her eye.

Calem laughed and gestured with his pan. "You can have some of mine."

Satori rolled her eyes and finished making her breakfast. The others at their campsite seemed to have gotten up earlier than they had and were already heading on their way, but Satori and her group took the first morning of their journey slow. They ate breakfast in peace. Calem had cooked Shauna's egg for her, and Satori lowered her leftovers to the ground while Fennekin gobbled them up.

Finally, they pushed into the tall grass after packing their things. Fennekin didn't want to walk through the grass, so instead she rode on top of Satori's head. It was cute, and since she was small it didn't put much strain on Satori. The others didn't mimic her and kept their pokemon safely in their respective pokeballs.

They spotted the river half an hour after setting out. It appeared rather suddenly on their left, and the noise of the rushing water was a nice ambiance to their journey. Soon after the new addition to the landscape, a wild pokemon emerged from the grass.

Almost as if it were rehearsed, the three trainers whipped out their pokedexes and held it in front of the pokemon. The robotic voices of the three devices rang out. "Bunnelby, digging pokemon. It can use its ears as shovels to dig in the ground and burrow."

Satori was disheartened. "That's it?"

Calem shook his head. "If you capture it, the pokedex will interface with the pokeball to give more detailed statistics. The external scan can only reveal basic information." Calem pulled out a pokeball from his ball. "Observe," he shouted, and tossed the pokeball towards the wild Bunnelby. "Go, Froakie!"

The blue frog pokemon emerged and faced off with the Bunnelby. Satori watched as Calem shouted out the names of attacks and directed his pokemon in battle. It wasn't exactly all that impressive—the Froakie and Bunnelby looked like they were just roughhousing. After a few minutes when both pokemon looked exhausted, Calem tossed a different pokeball towards the Bunnelby. It bounced off its head, opened up and sucked the wild pokemon inside.

The pokeball dropped to the ground and rocked about slightly. Once, twice. And then there was a small clicking sound.

"Alright, nice." Calem said with a fist pump.

"That was so cool~" Shauna exclaimed. "The pokemon just went inside the pokeball. So that means it's our friend now?"

Calem chuckled. "Well that's up to how you treat it. Give your pokemon lots of love and they'll love you back."

"Love?" Satori said, and pointed towards the Froakie. "That doesn't look very loved to me. He looks like he's in quite a bit of pain."

_You better not use that excuse not to have me battle, master. I want to flex my strength, _thought the Fennekin atop Satori's head. _It's usually fun. Getting injured is part of the territory._

"That's what potions are for, idiot." Calem said. He pulled a purple and white spray bottle out of his pack and knelt down next to his Froakie. Over all the injuries he sprayed the potion, and it seemed to rejuvenate the pokemon. Within minutes he was hopping around and Fennekin jumped off Satori's head to play with him.

Satori watched Calem pull a cord out of his pokedex and insert it into a slot on the pokeball. The pokedex lit up and some information appeared on the screen. The cord then retracted back into the inside of the pokedex and Calem put the Bunnelby pokeball in a special slot on his pack.

"And that's how you catch a pokemon," Calem announced proudly. "Here, I'll give each of you a pokeball of your own..."

The rest of the day's walk they decided to split up. They stayed within eyesight, but each had their own sort of designated area in case of an encounter. It wasn't until mid afternoon when Satori finally ran into something.

_Zig zag zig zag, wheee~_

Satori drifted her pace towards some rustling in the bushes. Pushing the grass out of the way, she saw a brown and black creature walking back and fourth. She pulled out her pokedex. "Zigzagoon, the tiny raccoon pokemon. It walks in a zig zag pattern as is generally non-threatening."

_Hell yes, let me show you what I can do, master, _said Fennekin. She hopped off of Satori's head, and tackled the zigzagoon who was just minding his own business. The two pokemon got in a bit of a kerfuffle, and Satori wasn't sure what to do or say. But Fennekin didn't seem to mind, instead going at the zigzagoon with repeated scratches. On the fourth scratch, the zigzagoon rolled over to the side and stopped moving.

"Is it dead?" Satori asked.

_Naw, it just fainted. It takes way more than that to actually kill us, _replied the Fennekin. Satori breathed a sigh of relief, and knelt down by the zigzagoon. She drew an empty pokeball from her bag that Calem had given her, and pushed it against the wild pokemon. But nothing seemed to be happening. _I don't think it works if they're unconscious, master._

"Boo."

Satori stood up and walked away from the zigzagoon, continuing her march. Not soon after, the tall grass ended and the three trainers met up on the road. They walked beside the flowing river, and stopped for lunch on its banks.

"I didn't catch anything..." Shauna complained.

"Me neither," said Satori.

Both of the girls pouted a little bit, although Fennekin seemed quite proud of herself for felling the Zigzagoon. Satori rewarded her with a bite from her sandwich. After only fifteen minutes though, Calem stood up.

"We should get going. We got a late start so it'll be dark by the time we reach our next campsite."

The others agreed, and so the party was on their way. There was no more tall grass they would have to venture through today, so the afternoon went by in relative peace. They stopped at a similar campsite and met up with the people who they had camped with the night previous.

The next day went similar to the previous, with no one catching any new pokemon. It wasn't until the late afternoon when the border of the Santalune forest finally came into view. The trees were tall and dwarfed the children who had been feeling rather proud up until now.

"Ugg...we have to go through that?" Shauna asked.

_I can handle it, _said Fennekin. Satori glanced her eyes down to the fox-like pokemon who trotted beside her and smiled.

"Ah, there's Tierno and Trevor," said Calem. He waved towards two boys a short distance away. "They'll be_—_"

"Joining us on our journey, Sycamore's other students." Satori said.

Before Calem could rant, they met the two boys. Tierno was chubby with a tremendous smile across his face, while Trevor was small and was doing his best to be unnoticed. They introduced themselves, and after a few handshakes they turned towards the imposing forest they would be traveling through.

"I bet it's really spooky at night, right guys?" Tierno asked. Shauna visibly shivered.

"Oh, for sure," said Satori. "There's probably also lots of creepy crawly bug pokemon. And slimy, they're probably slimy too."

_Wait, I don't want to go in there. _Shauna held her arms defensively. "I, uh, maybe there's another way around..." she said softly.

Calem cut Satori a hard glance before turning to comfort Shauna. They weren't going to actually enter until the next day though, so it was decided to just make camp and enter tomorrow morning when it would be less frightening. The forest would take longer than a day to navigate though, so they weren't really escaping the night. Just putting it off.

When Satori awoke, the only other person up was Trevor. He tensed up a bit when he saw that she had awoken. _Awah, now I have to converse with someone. Maybe if I'm lucky she'll go away._ Satori decided to walk up and sit right next to him. He lowered his head. _Dammit, what am I supposed to say. Uhh...the weather. Yeah, that'll work._

"M-Morning, Satori." Trevor said softly as to not wake the others. "Seems like we'll have good weather today."

"The weather, seriously?" Satori teased. "That's what you went with?"

_Why did you have to go and say that. _Trevor twisted his thumbs. "W-Well then...er..." Trevor never came up with anything else to say, and he and Satori sat in silence.

After a few minutes, Satori decided to start cooking her breakfast and woke Fennekin to help her start a fire. She wasn't strong enough yet to be able to cause embers, but the hot air she could blow out her ears would help.

Satori looked back up at Trevor when she realized he was pointing his pokedex at her. His face went red when he realized he was noticed.

"Want to know my three sizes?"

His face went even more red at Satori's comment. "S-Sorry. I just wanted to...the pokemon around your neck, I mean. It looks like an Unknown but..."

"Around my_—_oh, you mean this." Satori said, and stroked the thing that Trevor had mistaken for a pokemon. It was her Third Eye, not a pokemon by any means. It was part of who she was, similar to an arm or a leg. It was what let her see into the minds of others. "Not telling."

Trevor wasn't sure how to respond to that, and so he just turned his head. But the mind-reader easily scanned his thoughts. They were mostly confused and a fear of embarrassment. Satori ignored the boy from there on as others started to wake, and the morning got underway.

The morning went by a bit faster than they would have wanted, and before long it was time that they press into the forest. The Santalune Forest wasn't by any means the most dangerous or frightening place in Kalos, but for the children who had rarely ventured far from their hometown by themselves it was their first major obstacle.

So they mustered up all their courage and pressed inwards. The forest was large and would take nearly a week to travel all the way through. While it normally wouldn't take that long "as a bird flies," the forest had parts where the treeline was just too thick to easily navigate through. The established path actually winded back and fourth, drawing out the journey.

Of course, this sort of design had problems of its own.

"I think we're lost," said Calem.

"Way to go," Satori remarked. "I thought you were supposed to be good at this."

Satori and Calem bickered while Trevor shifted uncomfortably in the background. _Please stop fighting, _he thought. _The path should just be ten minutes north of here. As soon as they stop fighting I'll bring it up..._

"Well let's see _you _figure out what to do then, Miss Know-It-All." Calem said and pointed accusingly towards Satori. She crossed her arms and turned her head to the side.

"Easy, the path is just a ten-minute's walk to the north, " Satori said. She saw Trevor's expression flinch as she stole his moment, but kept her focus on Calem. "I would have thought someone as _prepared _and _ready _as you would at least know that much."

Calem snorted. "Don't bother gloating until you're actually proved right." But regardless the group decided to go north at Satori's suggestion. Their excursion through the forest hadn't been as bad as it looked from the outside, the forest was actually very pleasant. They had encountered about three or four bug pokemon a day, and Trevor caught a few of them. Satori had only one pokeball though that she had gotten from Calem and she didn't want to waste it. So her roster still only held the solitary Fennekin.

Fennekin had decided she did not want to experience the forest, so Satori withdrew her back into her pokeball. She was a bit confused at what she was hearing from the Pokeball, though. It was like the thoughts of Fennekin were muffled or being said underwater. Hard to make out unless she really paid attention.

After about ten minutes, the party did indeed come back across the paved road that was laid through the forest. It wasn't entirely continuous, hence the possibility of getting lost, but it helped to reorient travelers.

It wasn't all that effective though.

"We're lost again, aren't we?" Satori asked after reading Calem's thoughts. He was reluctant to bring it up, but he couldn't hide the truth from his mind-reading companion.

"Ugh."

"This forest really _is _difficult to get through!" Shauna exclaimed.

Satori looked to Trevor again in a hope to steal some knowledge, but unfortunately she would not be lucky a second time. _Uh oh, I sure hope someone has an idea, _he thought as he turned his head in a circle trying to find a landmark. Satori sighed.

_Come here, little bug..._

The thought was faint and Satori could barely hear it, but that meant it had to be close. She tried to block out the thoughts of her companions and focus on the new, foreign consciousness.

_I'm going to...nice photographs..._

Satori couldn't locate people from their thoughts, but when she knew what to listen for she was able to hear the ruffling of the bushes in the distance. Satori wandered off towards the sound.

Calem had ignored her as he usually did, but Tierno and Trevor were not familiar enough with Satori to realize this was normal behavior. They followed her through the bushes and trees, and almost bumped into her when she stopped. In a clearing just ahead of them there was a woman hunched over, holding a large camera in her hands. She looked almost like a hunter stalking its prey.

"Ah, excuse us," Tierno said to announce his presence. The woman looked up, and gave them a wave.

"Oh, are you guys trainers?" She asked, eying the pokeballs and gear. All three of them nodded and the woman smiled at the response. "I'm Viola, the Santalune Gym Leader."

"Wow, really?" Tierno asked. "What are you doing out here?"

Viola held up her camera. "I'm trying to take some pictures of bug pokemon, but I'm having a bit of trouble today. None showed up at my usual spot." _They always show up, why didn't they show up? Did something bad happen to them? Please let nothing have happened to them, oh god. Anything but that. Maybe...maybe some nice trainer captured them. Or..._

"Do you want us to help you?" Satori asked. "Something really bad might have happened to them."

The string of worries flew through Viola's head again. "A-Ah, yeah, that would be a big help. Thanks, er..."

"I'm Satori." After her, the others announced their own names as well as Calem and Shauna, who had wandered over after realizing something was going on. The party decided to split into pairs and wander through the forest, looking for the cause of the missing bug pokemon. Satori was the odd one out to no one's surprise, and was forced to pair with Viola. They all agreed to meet back on the road within two hours.

After a few minutes of walking and finding themselves sufficiently alone, Viola began to talk to her temporary exploration partner. "So Satori, you're a young trainer then? Have you caught any other pokemon yet?"

Satori shook her head. "Not yet. All I have is the Fennekin that Professor Sycamore gave me."

"Oh, you're one of Augustine's? Lucky you." _I wish someone as handsome as Augustine was my professor, back in the day..._

Satori chuckled at the stray thought that Viola didn't voice. Satori had not yet met the professor, but at least she had something to look forward to now.

They chatted a bit, which turned out to be a bit more pleasant than most of Satori's usual conversations. Viola's worry over the forest's bug pokemon was drowning out most of her other thoughts, so there wasn't anything else Satori could latch onto to cause the conversation to go sour. As a consequence, they only discussed shallow things and Satori found the conversation a bit dry.

It was about forty minutes later—while Viola was talking about the advantages of different apertures in the low light of the forest—that they heard the cry of a pokemon coming a short distance away. Viola perked up and told Satori it was coming from a grove nearby and the two rushed to see what was the matter. When they arrived, they found a small, grayish pokemon being attacked by a Pikachu.

Neither Satori nor Viola intervened at first. Fights between wild pokemon were common, after all, but something was strange about this. The Pikachu wasn't just attacking the bug pokemon, it was tormenting it. The bug had all but given up yet the Pikachu kept swiping at it with its claws. Satori read its thoughts, but all that she sensed was a sick sort of pleasure it derived from the bug's cries. The bug, on the other hand, was showing fear and pain.

"Ugh, that's horrible," Viola whispered. "That Pikachu is hurting that poor little Scatterbug." _I don't want to photograph this...should I intervene? But it might not be my place to interrupt the forest's natural flow...but that Pikachu is just..._

Satori had just about enough of Viola's roller coaster thoughts, and stepped out of the bushes dramatically wielding her pokeball. "Fennekin," she shouted and threw the ball into the grove. In a white light the Fennekin emerged and faced down the Pikachu and Scatterbug, who had given her their full attention.

_Master, you want me to take down two at once? I'm good but I'm not that good, _said Fennekin.

_Help me~ _The Scatterbug cried.

"Just the Pikachu."

The Pikachu turned his attention towards Fennekin and Satori. _Get lost._

Fennekin charged forwards and tackled the Pikachu. This wasn't like some of the other playful and friendly encounters they had had. They were really trying to hurt each other. Their scratches drew blood and their tackles caused bruises.

"Fen, left!" Satori shouted. Fennekin rolled immediately as Pikachu's attack brushed by. The Pikachu was strong, but for the mind-reader its movements were predictable. He had a simple mindset with easy-to-read attacks. The only issue for Satori was making sure she told Fennekin in time.

_No way you two are going to beat me. _Pikachu dug his paws into the ground. _I'm the strongest dammit._

The Pikachu charged once again, but it didn't have anything clever planned. Satori directed Fennekin again to dodge, and she side-swiped Pikachu as he missed yet again. The frustration was almost visible on his face, and _very _clear in his mind.

"Finish him," Satori exclaimed. Fennekin pounced and beat Pikachu's head into the ground before he could recover. The battle lasted only a few minutes, and it ended with Pikachu struggling to stand up. Fennekin waltzed proudly at her victory, although she did not get through it unscathed.

Satori hadn't noticed it earlier, but there was a repeated sound of a camera in the background. Satori turned back and saw Viola viciously snapping photos of her and her pokemon. Viola gave her a thumbs-up.

Turning her attention away from Viola, Satori knelt down next to the injured Pikachu. It was still conscious but only barely, and bloodied from the battle. It was tough—these injuries would have caused any other Pikachu to faint by now.

Satori spoke in a whisper so only the Pikachu and nearby Fennekin could hear. "Turns out you're not so strong after all, Pikachu..." she said. "Did you really think bullying little bugs was a feat to be proud of?"

_Don't talk down to me...human...I'm the strongest thing in this forest._ The Pikachu tried to make a token struggle, but couldn't lift itself off the ground.

"Eeehhhhh~?" Satori said with a grin. "The world stretches far beyond this forest. There's some pokemon that could crush you underfoot and not even notice. I've been a trainer for less than a week and I've already defeated you. _Weakling._"

The pikachu's thoughts were angry and uncontrolled. Satori waited for it to form a coherent thought she could respond to, but it never did and just seethed itself in anger.

Satori sighed, and brought out the empty pokeball from her pack. "Come with me and I'll let you grow strong. Or you can stay here and get eaten by the first hawk that flies by."

_Bite me. You think I would subjugate myself to you?_

Satori grasped the empty pokeball and shoved it into the Pikachu's face, hard. It winced from the pain.

"Get in."

A few seconds went by and the Pikachu stared into Satori's eyes with a hard look, the pokeball digging into its face. But then the expression on his face wavered. In a bright white light, the Pikachu was sucked into the pokeball and a "click" resounded across the grove.

Satori stood up, tossing the pokeball in her hand with a smile on her face. Viola came out of the bushes, clapping.

"That was very impressive," she exclaimed. "You and your Fennekin seem well bonded, even after such a short time. And you caught the Pikachu too." With a smile at her words Satori put the pokeball into her roster.

As she finished, she felt something rub against her leg. She looked down and saw the injured Scatterbug nuzzling against her. _Thank you, _it said.

Satori knelt down and patted it on the head. She pulled out her pokedex and scanned the Scatterbug. The hollow voice of the pokedex echoed throughout the grove: "Scatterbug, the scatterdust pokemon. It can thrive in any climate and is seen all around the world."

As Satori focused on the device in her hands, she failed to notice at first the other pokemon approaching her. However, their thoughts hit her rather abruptly and she staggered from so many voices. From the surrounding brush emerged over twenty different bug pokemon. She was confused at first, but their thoughts alleviated it.

_She stopped the bully!_

_We're safe again!_

The thoughts of pokemon were not always clear and in understandable language, but the emotions of the bugs surrounding Satori were of admiration and joy. She didn't stop them from coming closer, and she sat down on the ground cross-legged to interact with them.

While Satori spent the next few minutes playing with and petting all the bug pokemon of the forest, Viola spent her time taking photos of this event and asking Satori to strike poses. It made her blush a little bit, but she did her best.

Eventually the time came that they were supposed to meet the others, so Satori waved goodbye to the other bug pokemon and went on her way with Viola.

"I got some amazing shots, kid." Viola said. "You're something special, to be sure."

"Am I?"

"It's almost unnatural how comfortable those pokemon felt around you. Most trainers don't reach that level of familiarity with their pokemon for months. If I didn't know better I would have guessed you lived in this forest. No wonder Augustine took an interest in you."

Satori didn't know how to respond to that. It didn't take too long for them to make it back to the pathway, where they found Calem and Trevor waiting. Shauna and Tierno apparently had not arrived. Before they had a chance to say they hadn't found anything, Satori told the story of how she—in no uncertain terms—saved the forest. Tierno was suitably impressed, although Calem didn't take the arrogance in how she delivered it well.

About the time that Shauna and Trevor came back, in which Satori had the chance to brag again, Viola told the group of young trainers she was heading back to Santalune and she'll catch up with them there. She was gone before anyone could ask her to accompany them.

All in all it took them a solid week to traverse the entire forest. The party was relieved when it thinned and they emerged into bright, full sunlight and a road cutting through the plains far off into the distance. On their left was a brilliantly blue, shining lake. But their relief was short lived when Satori caught a glimpse of a sign reading _Route Three. _They weren't even in Santalune city.

"Oh, yeah..." Trevor said quietly. "S-Santalune isn't actually for another four days or so..."

A round of sighs spread through the party, and they decided to just camp by the lakeside and tackle this next route starting in the morning. When they woke up, Tierno and Trevor decided they wanted to run on ahead, and said they'd meet up later. Neither Satori nor the others stopped them, the three of them liked a bit of a slower pace than Tierno and Trevor.

So Satori, Calem and Shauna leisurely walked along the lake. The route was easy to traverse and the lake provided a relaxing atmosphere. On the third day, the party passed by someone standing on the side of the road with his arms on his hips. As they got close, he looked over. "You!" he shouted, and pointed towards Calem. "I challenge you to a pokemon battle!"

"Very well, I accept." Calem said energetically. The exchange was so quick, Satori didn't even realize what was happening at first. Shauna had to drag her by the arm to the side of the road to give Calem and the trainer some room. The two girls whispered while the boys started their match.

"Shauna, why did Calem agree so readily...?"

Shauna didn't look at Satori, instead focusing on the match. "Don't you know anything? When two trainers lock eyes, it_—_"

"That's dumb. You have to battle if you meet someone else's eyes?" Satori said, and focused on Calem. He sent out his Froakie against the trainer's Pidgy. The Froakie was fast—really fast. Satori didn't realize it before, but now that she had seen a few encounters of her own she could make the comparison. The battle was quick, and Calem won. The other trainer looked a bit dejected and handed over a sum of money Satori couldn't make out.

"Congratulations," Shauna exclaimed and went to go hug Calem. He laughed in response, and the gang continued on their way. They had encountered one other trainer who was looking to fight, which Shauna was the target of. She lost. Before long, they made their way to near the end of the route, traveled down the long staircase down the cliff and finally reached their destination: Santalune City.

The city was bigger than Aquacorde and had plenty of people walking the streets and visiting shops. Satori, Calem and Shauna started walking through the town, but Satori quickly stopped them after reading Shauna and Calem's conflicting thoughts on what they wanted to do.

"Let's split up. We're going to be spending awhile here, right?"

The others nodded. "Let's all meet up again at the Pokemon Center in the evening. Trainers can get their pokemon healed there for free, and they also provide free lodge. It's not exactly high class though."

With that decided, they split up and wandered the town. Satori walked beside her Fennekin. She estimated they would spend at least a couple of weeks here since they would need time to train and prepare themselves for the Santalune Gym. Just because they had already met Viola didn't mean they were prepared to take her on in battle.

Satori eventually stopped at a cafe and talked with her Fennekin while drinking a cup of afternoon coffee.

_You look tired, _Fennekin commented.

"I spent two weeks side-by-side with those two." Satori said. "I need a break."

_They don't seem to like you very much, master._

"They don't." Satori stirred the coffee in her mug with a small spoon. Fennekin shuffled closer and rested her head against Satori's arm.

_It's okay, I like you, _she said. Satori felt a bit better, and decided to head over to the Pokemon Center after finishing her drink. She didn't see Calem or Shauna when she arrived, so she just headed on in without them. The lady behind the counter welcomed her as she walked through the automatic doors.

"Hi, I'd like a room please. I'm a trainer," said Satori.

"Excellent, we have plenty available. If you'll just show me your ID..."

Satori took out the trainer card that she had received from Professor Sycamore. Everything seemed to check out with the nurse, because she handed it back after typing a few things into her keyboard. "Enjoy your stay," she said, handing Satori a card key and a map to her room. It was apparently in a separate complex nearby.

On her way out, Satori bumped into Calem and Shauna who were mid-conversation. They mostly ignored each other, Satori gesturing with her hand holding the room key. With that, she left them behind in the pokemon center while they got their own rooms.

The room was nice, but small. Satori set her bag down on the twin bed and sat beside it. Fennekin immediately curled up on one of the pillows and went to sleep. Satori decided to take a long shower before joining her, wiping off the grime that accumulated after two weeks of travel.

Satori spent her first few days in Santalune visiting the shops and services it provided. There was a nice-looking boutique that specialized in hats, but it wasn't in her budget to buy any. It was at this point she realized she would have to challenge some trainers if she wanted to accumulate cash, and it might also be good practice for when she eventually challenged Viola.

Thus she found herself back in Route Three in a small outlet away from the main road. Satori had confidence in Fennekin, but she hadn't summoned Pikachu since its capture. She couldn't put it off any longer though, and would have to train with it if she stood any chance against another actual trainer.

Satori pulled the ball out of her roster and tossed it in the air. The pokeball split open and Pikachu emerged. It stretched its limbs a bit before looking up at Satori. _About time, were you just going to leave me in there forever, human?_

"What, is it not fun in those things?"

_Maybe you should go in one and see how fun it is_.

"Well, you can stay out if you earn it. Let's see how well you can obey orders."

The Pikachu raised its nose at Satori's words. _Why should I do as you say, human? Maybe you should be the one listening to me. I bet I could beat you in a match easy, one thunderbolt and—_

Pikachu didn't get the chance to complete his thought before Satori brought her foot down onto its side, pinning its small body to the dirt. She used the full force of her weight and the Pikachu squirmed in pain underneath her shoe.

_Arg, stop it, what do you think you're doing? _The Pikachu screamed in his mind. In response, Satori only applied more pressure. The Pikachu struggled to free itself and a few sparks came from his cheeks. He looked up at the girl oppressing him, but his eyes instead locked with the _thing _around her chest. The Third Eye.

His sparks cut off.

"You're weak." Satori looked down at the Pikachu as she dragged its trauma to the forefront of its mind. The Pikachu's struggles didn't last very long, and it went limp from Satori's mental assault. The fundamental fear of this Pikachu—of being weak—was so easy to exploit.

Satori's ability was the manipulation of trauma. She could read the past traumas of others and either suppress it or make it so pervasive it was crippling.

Satori had not held back against the poor mouse pokemon.

She lifted her foot from its back and let it lay on the ground for a moment. There was a red imprint of her shoe in its fur, but it would fade away within the hour. There was no way she could compare physically to any pokemon, but this Pikachu's simplistic mind was easy enough for her to invade. No matter how strong the body, it is useless without a sane mind in control.

_W...w...what did you...do to me...human_, Pikachu said after regaining some of its senses. Satori stood over it and let her shadow fall over the Pikachu.

"Master."

_What...?_

"I am your master," Satori said. "You will refer to me as such."

_...a...alright, master. _The Pikachu said. At his words, Satori smiled and knelt down, bringing the Pikachu into her arms.

"Good boy," she said petting his head. "And to answer your question, not human."

_What?_

"I'm not human." Satori grabbed Pikachu's cheek and stretched it a bit.

She then pressed onwards into the tall grass looking for a wild encounter. The Pikachu had its pride wounded, and it was crucial that Satori let him blow off steam against something he could win against as soon as possible. It would solidify the status quo she was trying to form with the Pikachu.

Fennekin trotted behind. _Wow, master, you're scary, _she said.

Satori glanced back at Fennekin and grinned. "Only when I have to be." She looked back to the Pikachu, and rubbed its head again. Satori could tell from his thoughts he enjoyed it, although he would never admit it. "A pack can't have two alphas."

Luckily, it wasn't more than forty minutes before Satori and her two pokemon came across a wild Fletchling. Satori scanned it quickly with the pokedex, and then tossed the Pikachu out of her arms. "Show me just how strong you are, Pikachu!" She shouted. The Pikachu was eager to blow off some steam, and sent a thunder shock at the tiny bird pokemon.

The Fletchling couldn't dodge the attack, but was still in fighting condition. It responded by trying to tackle the Pikachu from the air. Satori yelled for the Pikachu to dodge left and swipe it as it passed by. She was pleased when he obeyed her command and the Fletchling went down for good. It was a quick battle, but from his thoughts Satori could tell it alleviated some of his stress.

"Good job," Satori said with a smile.

Over the next couple of days, Satori properly trained her Pikachu. It was still hesitant to obey her commands at first, but by the end of the week he mostly came around. They faced off against a couple of trainers on the route and Satori picked up some extra cash from her victories.

_Ha, I'm sure I could solo that loser gym leader Viola, _said the Pikachu as he sat atop Satori's head. He was still a prideful jerk and a bully, after all. But now he was _Satori's _bully. And that was good enough for her.

And so two weeks after her entrance to Santalune City, Satori found herself standing outside the large doors of the Santalune City Gym. The stones were a golden brown with a jade green roof. For a bug pokemon gym, it was surprisingly intimidating. Satori had not run into Viola once around town, and she wasn't quite sure she was ready. But there was no rule that said you couldn't challenge a gym leader twice.

Apparently the schedule of challengers is public information, because her entire group had shown up to watch. Satori had not spent a lot of time with any of them since they all entered Santalune, but in a few days they would be heading out so it was about time they organized. With luck they would all defeat Viola and get their very first badges. Today would be Satori and Shauna, tomorrow would be Calem and the others.

With a deep breath, Satori stepped inside.

The interior was different than she expected. It was a simple, small room with white tiles and gray drywall. There were two large pillars near the entrance carved with hundreds of names, and standing beside one of them was a portly man. He gave a quick wave and gestured towards the center of the room. Satori looked to where he was pointing and saw a hole in the floor. There was a rope tied off and it was clear she was supposed to climb down.

Satori sighed, wrapped her hands around the rope and descended into the belly of the gym. It wasn't that difficult to climb down, and when she climbed down the whole distance she let go and turned her head to get a look at her surroundings. She was in a massive cavern lit by some kind of artificial lighting that Satori couldn't locate. On the floor was an intricate spider-web pattern that caused Satori to go dizzy if she looked at it for too long.

Calem and the others dropped down shortly after Satori, and looked around in a similar sense of wonderment. Spectators were apparently allowed by Viola, although Satori knew not all gyms would give that luxury.

The only other figure in the room was Viola herself standing next to the wall. Behind her was a makeshift tent next to numerous camera and photography equipment. Satori made her way over to the Gym Leader, who was radiating with confidence.

"Welcome to the Santalune City Gym," Viola said commandingly. "I am the leader, Viola. Are you prepared to challenge me?"

Satori narrowed her gaze. "I am."

"Excellent. But don't think I'll go easy on you just because of our adventures in the forest, little Satori." Viola gave a cute wink. "My lens is always focused on victory!"

With an exaggerated stretch, Viola threw out her first pokemon as Satori did the same. After a quick flash of light, Satori's Pikachu faced down a blue and yellow pokemon with long legs. Satori had her pokedex at the ready and scanned Viola's Surskit, the pond skater pokemon. Satori was relieved that she decided to throw out Pikachu first—she had type advantage.

"Pikachu, use thundershock." Satori ordered. The Pikachu still had a defiant attitude, but Satori had no reason to think it would disobey her. Before the Pikachu could unleash its attack, however, the Surskit shot towards the Pikachu and rammed into it. The Pikachu was unamused he was hit first, but quickly recovered and fired a thunder shock from his cheeks.

The surge of electricity raced towards the Surskit in a fearsome arc, but in less than a second the attack had concluded. The Surskit was injured, but not out. Satori looked out across the stage at Viola—she was smiling. Her eyes were dead serious, but she had a smile on her face. _I would hardly expect anything different, _she thought. _Surskit is no match for a Pikachu, especially that one. Looks like Satori really did spend time training it...amazing..._

Satori didn't have time to blush at the unvoiced praise she wasn't supposed to have heard, instead focusing on the battle. Satori told Pikachu to repeat the strategy again, although its exact execution was different. But with a second thunder shock, the Surskit had fainted and Viola recalled it. It had been fairly one-sided, but that's the nature of the game sometimes. A water pokemon has no chance against an electric one.

Viola placed the exhausted pokeball back in her bag, and pulled out a second one. In another exaggerated toss, a majestic butterfly-like pokemon emerged with glimmering purple scales. Satori found herself caught off guard at the sight of it. But it wasn't its elegance that stunned her, it was its thoughts.

_Here we go again. _The pokemon's thoughts were dull and tired. _Ugh. _It confused Satori greatly, from the outside the pokemon looked wonderful and happy, but its thoughts were more akin to an empty room devoid of emotion. The conflict caused Satori to hesitate.

"Vivillion, use infestation," Viola shouted from across the battlefield. The Vivillion did as it was commanded without delay and shook its entire body. From it emerged thousands of tiny fleas, all drawing towards the Pikachu. It tried to escape, but there were too many and they were too fast.

"Ah, Pikachu," Satori exclaimed. "T-Try to shake it off..."

The Pikachu became distracted by the fleas on its back, and it looked like it was in pain. There were too many things going on at once for Satori to be able to handle it. The Vivillion's thoughts, Viola's thoughts, the battle, she just couldn't keep track of everything. The Vivillion raced towards the Pikachu and tackled it from the air repeatedly. Before long the Pikachu fainted, and Satori reluctantly called him back.

Satori only had one other pokemon, Fennekin, so she couldn't delay the battle to gather her thoughts for very long between summons. But in the short interim she focused on the landscape of thoughts radiating from Viola and her pokemon. It was strange, too strange. The Vivillion seemed disgusted, bored and tired of its master. But from Viola there was a subtle sadness. Satori didn't have time to read into it too much, but she gleamed a single name from the leader's mind.

_Vivi..._

After her short rest of only a few seconds, she pulled out the pokeball of Fennekin and tossed it into the fray. _Save the best for last, _said the Fennekin proudly. Pikachu would have been angered if he had heard it.

Satori told Fennekin to run around the stage. Viola's next move would be predictable, but Satori wanted to buy a few seconds while the Vivillion tried to track its target. Before Viola had a chance to order the infestation, Satori yelled out.

"Hey Viola, who was Vivi?"

Viola froze. _How does she know about that, _she thought. Satori was glad to see her tactic worked. She didn't even have to tell her Fennekin what to do next, it took advantage of the opening and tackled the Vivillion to the ground. Satori meanwhile focused on Viola's thoughts and gleamed all sorts of terrible, sad information.

"This Vivillion hates you, you know," Satori said with a gesture towards the battle. Viola stared at her while her serious composure cracked, but Satori didn't let up. "Not surprising, I guess, it's just a _replacement, _isn't it?"

The Vivillion and Fennekin were tackling each other across the stage. With no direction from their masters, they didn't dare to use any complex maneuvers.

"H-How do you know that?" Viola said. "Who told you about Vivi?"

Satori simply shrugged in response. "It's a sad thing, isn't it? When a pokemon dies. That sort of event can break a person. But this is a bit cruel, don't you think? Replacing your lost pokemon with a carbon copy."

When Satori had trained her Pikachu, she had used her Third Eye to drag its worst fears to the surface of its mind. It was a mental attack. But what she was doing to Viola was more subtle than that, she was simply using words. Viola drew the painful memories out all on her own.

Satori sifted through the memories Viola had as they rose to the surface. She grew up with the lovely Vivillion, Vivi. They laughed, they cried, they challenged the elite four together, they went on grand adventures. And then suddenly and painfully, Vivi was ripped away from her. Satori didn't get the chance to find out how it died, Viola suppressed the thought, but the damage was done.

"Don't let it happen again," Satori yelled. "Fennekin, light it on fire!"

Fennekin, at its master's orders, caused small flames to erupt from her body. They traveled like bullets towards the Vivillion, and before Viola could order it to dodge they struck, igniting the Vivillion's wings on fire.

"Ah, no, wait_—_!" Viola shouted. The Vivillion flapped into the air and spun around quickly, extinguishing the flames on its body. Pokemon were tough, after all. But from that attack and the previous ones Fennekin gave it, it was severely damaged and the exhaustion could be seen in its wing flaps. "No, just, come back..." Viola held out the pokeball and withdrew the Vivillion.

Satori had only seen two pokeballs on Viola, so that meant Satori won. However, instead of being congratulated, she simply watched as Viola dropped to her knees.

"V...Vivi...why..." She uttered softly, and tears came from her eyes. Satori just watched her. Anyone foolish enough to face off against someone like Satori would be forced to confront their worst fears, the things they hide deep inside themselves. She felt no regret, it was simply who she was.

Viola dragged herself up and retreated back to her tent in silence. It was only at this point that Satori remembered she was being watched by Calem and the others, and judging by the looks on their faces they were angry. Shocked and angry at the battle.

_Oh my god, she made the leader cry, _thought Shauna.

Satori refocused her attention on Viola, who had grabbed a small wooden box from the tent and came back towards Satori. Without making eye contact, Viola shoved the small box into Satori's arms. "Just take this and go," Viola said in barely more than a whisper. She then retreated again past her tent, and up the staircase leading to the surface.

The trainers were left in the wide hall of the gym completely alone. After a minute, Calem stormed over to Satori and got right into her face.

"This is why everyone hates you," he shouted. "There was no reason to do that to her. What were you thinking?"

Satori was at a loss for words. "I, uh...I was just_—_"

"JUST WHAT?" Calem shouted again. Satori held the wooden box defensively against her chest. "Just trying to make someone else cry? Trying to torture someone else? Putting aside how you even found out about her pokemon's death, that's the sort of thing you don't throw in her face to win a match." Calem's arms shook and Satori was a bit afraid he would strike her. But instead he turned away and stomped off towards Viola. The others in the group shyly followed behind him until it was just Satori alone in the gym.

Fennekin trotted up next to her and sat on its hindquarters. Satori glanced down at it.

"Do you want to yell at me too?" She asked.

Fennekin shook her tiny head. _You're scary, master, you're really scary. But I think you have a good heart somewhere in there. _Fennekin brushed itself up against her leg. _This journey we're on is about more than becoming strong, it's about growing. It's about finding ourselves. And I want to do that with you, master._

Satori knelt down and rubbed Fennekin's head. "How are you so smart?" She asked. Her little pokemon raised its snout in pride.

_I spent a lot of time wandering about Sycamore's lab. I overheard things. But enough about that, open up your prize and let's see what you got._

Satori placed the box on the ground gently, and opened the lid. It was padded with a green foam and contained two items. The first was a small, beetle shaped ornament. The Bug Badge. The second was a small little SD card with the phrase "TM83" printed on it. Satori didn't quite know what it was, but placed it and the badge back in the box, which she then placed in her pack.

With a smile at defeating her first gym leader, Satori left the wide halls of the gym back to the Poke Center for a much-needed rest.


	2. Cliff 1

_Satori in Kalos_

**Chapter 2  
><strong>**Cliff 1**

A gust of wind blew from the East, carrying thousands of tiny little pedals across the sky. Satori looked up, admiring the view. She was standing in a vast field of yellow flowers a bit less than halfway through Route Four, just north of Santalune. Her Fennekin and Pikachu were running around in the flowers playing.

Satori had left the city before the others. They had no interest in being around her after her gym battle, and Satori thought it would be best if she kept her distance. They wouldn't be too far behind her, two or three days at the most, although she wasn't sure if they would ever want to speak to her again. Calem had been very angry at her, and she didn't even attempt to apologize.

But her mind wasn't on that for now, she was far too distracted by the flowers. Route Four was a long stretch of well-kept gardens, and it was far more beautiful than anything she had seen around her hometown. What intrigued her the most however was not the flowers, but all the tiny thoughts she heard from within.

At first she thought she was hearing things, but that changed when she decided to examine the flowers closely. A gust of wind picked up, and Satori could make out a small human-like figure hanging on to one of the air-born flower stems. It was so tiny Satori couldn't believe it was actually a pokemon, but her Pokedex never lied. It scanned as Flabébé, and was smaller than Satori's hand.

Their thoughts were playful and lighthearted. Satori smiled as all the Flabébé floated around her, moving in whichever way the wind carried them. Her Pikachu had tried to catch them, but he was met with limited success. Fennekin had similar curiosity but was not so rash in her attempts to investigate. Satori let them do as they pleased.

Satori found plenty of trainers willing to battle on the route. She didn't quite break them like she had Viola, instead trying to hone her skill at actually commanding her pokemon. Fighting against wild pokemon was too trivial, their thoughts were simplistic and easy to read. Satori's pokemon rarely took a hit, let alone having a chance at losing.

Battling against other trainers, however, was different entirely. Satori sorted the types of actions she needed to watch out for into two categories. Those initiated by the trainer, and those initiated by the pokemon themselves. Trainers usually yelled out simple commands, like "Use scratch" or something similar. However, the actual execution of a command like that required many other movements from the pokemon. It had to approach its target, decide where to attack, judge the target's reflexes and accurately launch their assault.

Satori realized she would have to read both the trainer and the pokemon's thoughts at once to be able to understand the battlefield properly. She was fully capable of doing this, but the problem came when she actually tried to analyze their thoughts and figure out the best course of action. This analysis had to take less than a second—that was the time frame she was dealing with. Despite being a mind-reader, Satori was still a novice trainer. She just didn't have the experience yet.

So her battles were met with limited success. She won more than she lost, but she lost more than she would have liked.

After spending four days on the route, Satori finally saw her destination off in the distance. At first she was confused what it was, but when she got closer it became clear that what she was looking at were _buildings. _Hundreds of them reaching to the sky, and in the center of it all was a massive tower overlooking it all. The size and scale of the city was unlike anything Satori had ever seen, and it unnerved her.

Fennekin must have sensed her unease, because it hopped up onto Satori's shoulder and rubbed against her neck.

The route eventually terminated at a large gatehouse. She walked through the wide doors that could have fit a truck, and found a few people lounging around on couches and chairs. There was a tidy desk on the right side, behind it standing a pleasant-looking woman in a uniform.

"Excuse me," Satori said. She walked towards the desk and the attendant gave her full attention. "This is my first time in Lumoise."

"Oh, splendid." The attendant perked up. "Regretfully I must inform you, however, that we're currently experiencing a blackout. Half the city has—"

"Is off limits, got it." Satori crossed her arms. "Is the gym open? I'm a pokemon trainer."

The attendant looked sad. "I'm sorry, miss. Perhaps you—"

"You're right, I'll have to come back later." Satori said. "I had other business though, apparently a Professor Sycamore lives here in Lumoise."

The attendant was a bit flustered and looked up the name on her computer terminal. Satori listened to her thoughts as she read the data displayed on the computer, the screen of which Satori could not see. Finally the attendant looked up. "If you have a Holo Caster I can input the directions directly, otherwise I can find you a physical map."

Satori got out her Holo Caster, a device nearly every citizen owned. Its usefulness was beyond compare. A few seconds later and the attendant sent the directions to Sycamore Labs to Satori's device. There was also a very detailed map attached of the entirety of Lumoise City.

"Be sure not to get lost, miss." Said the attendant. "Most of the city is blocked off for now, but—"

"Thanks."

Satori walked through the gatehouse and into Lumoise City. It was magnificent, and Satori had to crane her neck all the way back to see the tops of the buildings. It was midday, so Satori decided to head directly to Sycamore Labs. She didn't admit it but she was anxious to meet this Professor she's heard so much about.

The directions were simple since Sycamore Labs was on one of the main roads of Lumiose. Satori simply followed the sidewalk for about half an hour taking in the sights of the city before she arrived. The lab was like a fish out of water compared to the rest of the city. The buildings were all rectangular and made of glass and stone, but Sycamore labs was like a little manor set between two tall skyscrapers. There was a nice garden out front and a stoop leading up to a nice wooden door.

Satori shrugged and entered.

The interior was very modern, and although there was a secretary sitting behind a desk to her left, Satori instead eyed the listing on the wall. Sycamore Labs was on the third floor, and Satori took the elevator straight up.

When the elevator doors opened, Satori saw a few men and women in lab coats milling about. A few looked up at her entrance, but then returned to their work. Only one of them approached her.

Satori's eyes looked him up and down. He was a good deal older than her and wore a white lab coat over his blue button-down shirt. His hair was black and waved around his face like an elegant sea.

"Ah, you must be Miss Komeiji Satori, right?" The man asked. His voice matched his appearance perfectly. _Wonderful, wonderful, how I've longed to meet you._

"I, er, uh—" Satori ungracefully stuttered and blushed. "Y-yes, that's me..."

"I am Professor Augustine Sycamore, welcome to my lab. Come, come, we have much to discuss." Viola was right about one thing, he was a looker to be sure.

Satori followed the professor as he navigated through a few dividers that segmented the lab. The entire floor was just one large studio, so the dividers added a semblance of order. They eventually reached a small area with a wooden desk and some contraptions and devices Satori couldn't make heads or tails of.

Sycamore didn't sit down at his desk. Instead he just leaned on it. "So, Miss Satori, how do you enjoy being a trainer? Have you been filling your Pokedex? I'd love to see it."

Satori had already been reaching into her bag for the Pokedex before the professor asked for it. She handed it over, and he flipped it open to browse through it.

"Not bad, not bad at all. You've even encountered Flabébé." Sycamore handed the pokedex back.

"The entry on it is sparse," Satori said, "Why is that?"

"Oh ho ho, you ask the right questions my dear." Sycamore replied. "You see, Flabébé is actually a recently discovered Pokemon and it's thrown the entire academic community up on its head. We thought at first it was a simple grass or bug type, but when we experimented it just didn't match up. It wasn't until just a few years ago we realized that Flabébé was of a completely different type altogether. A fairy type," the professor excitedly explained.

"Oh." Satori hadn't felt like interrupting him. She liked the sound of his voice, and even if she knew what he was going to say it was nice hearing him say it.

"So, I have a few things to talk about but I want to wait for my other students to arrive. You live close to some of them, correct? I—" The professor must have seen Satori's shift in behavior, because he took on a bit softer tone. "Did something happen?" He asked.

"We had an argument." Something about the professor urged Satori to open up. She felt safe around him. "I left Santalune before them, so they might be a few days behind."

The professor smiled. "Arguments happen. The true test of character is if even after those arguments you can stand together with your friends. I won't press you for—"

"Actually, professor, there is something I have to ask."

"Ask away."

"Do you know what I am?"

Sycamore didn't lose his smile. "I suspect with high probability, but I would not say I 'know' as the word is usually defined." _That you are probably a youkai._

"Please allow me to take refuge in that chunk of uncertainty."

"If you insist." The professor shrugged. "Feel free to explore Lumiose to your heart's content. Please return with the others, I'll give you a ring on your Holo Caster."

Satori had no interest in reconciling with her friends, but the professor had a speech he wanted to give. There wouldn't be a reason not to come back. "Okay."

Sycamore showed her the way back to the elevator, and waved her off as she went down. When the doors opened she walked in on two people having a conversation. One of them was a simple looking woman and Satori didn't give her much attention. Her conversation partner was much more striking.

He was tall and largely built, with bright orange hair that spiked out away from his head. His suit was black with a similar orange trim, and it was the most flamboyant thing Satori had ever seen.

Worse, the man looked in her direction at the elevator's chime. "Ah, si—" He said before cutting himself off. His voice was deep. "I'm sorry," he shook his head. "Are you one of the professor's students?"

Satori froze. His statement was innocuous enough, but his mind stole Satori's entire attention. Her ability was not something she could turn off, it was constant and she heard others' thoughts whether she wanted to or not. So she couldn't help reading into this man's head.

But it wasn't what she heard that bothered her. It's what she didn't.

Satori turned her attention to the small woman to double check. She was thinking about a small tear in her uniform that she would have to replace. Satori then turned back to the man. _Nothing. _

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

_Nothing._

Satori got a hold of herself and shook her head back and fourth. "No, sorry, nothing's wrong. Yes, I'm one of the professor's students."

The man laughed half-heartedly. "I see. I'm Lysandre. I developed the Holo Caster."

"Oh." Satori was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to answer properly. She couldn't get over not hearing his thoughts. There wasn't a creature alive that she couldn't read.

"Yes. Tell me, what's your name miss?"

"Satori."

"Ah, I see." Lysandre's eyes were hollow and Satori felt unease at being unable to read his thoughts. Not knowing his intentions, she felt vulnerable. "If you excuse me then, Satori, I have to meet the professor."

Satori watched the man get into the elevator with his companion. Satori waited a minute before leaving herself, engrossed in wonder.

The walk to the pokemon center was long. If Satori's ability could fail her like that with certain people, then it could easily happen with a trainer or gym leader. She might have to study the more conventional means of battling with pokemon after all. To have her ability fail her like that, it terrified her more than anything. She tried to shake it off and went to the Pokemon Center.

The center put her up in a pretty nice place. It was apparently as an apology for the blackout, one Satori gladly took advantage of. She had an entire queen bed to herself and a private bathroom. Pikachu and Fennekin enjoyed it too. Satori gave them a nice, long bath. She was a bit worried at first they would act like cats and hate it, but their reaction was just the opposite.

She gave Rin and Utsuho a call on her Holo Caster before turning in for the night.

Satori wandered around Lumoise for a couple of days after meeting the professor, but she didn't even come close to exploring it in its entirety. Even with more than half of it blocked off due to the blackout. What she did pick up was an apparent subculture in the city that focused on being _stylish. _Something of which Satori apparently had none of, being shooed out of numerous cafes and boutiques for not being cool enough.

Eventually she received the call on her Holo Caster to return to Sycamore Labs. She had mixed feelings. She would enjoy talking with the professor some more, but the thought of seeing Calem and the others put a damper on the meeting. She couldn't avoid it though.

The lab was much the same as it was a few days ago, and Satori pushed the button for the third floor on the elevator. A female scientist walked into the elevator with her. She was wearing a white lab coat, but Satori's eyes were drawn to the doll in her arms.

"Cute, right?" The woman asked.

"Yes."

"She's more interesting when she's powered on, but I've been..." _Ah, you probably don't want to know about this. _"Nevermind, sorry."

"It's fine."

Before their conversation could continue the elevator reached the top, and they walked out in different directions. Satori made her way through the dividers over to Sycamore's little area, and saw Calem and Shauna standing in front of the professor. Shauna gave a quick wave but Calem ignored her.

"Ah, welcome back Satori. Tierno and Trevor should arrive shortly. In the meantime, tell me, what do you guys think of Lumoise?"

"I don't seem to be quite..." Shauna shrugged. "I don't know the word for it. _In, _I guess. The culture is beyond my understanding."

Sycamore nodded with a small smile on his face. "I'm glad you brought that up. Lumoise certainly does have that sort of atmosphere to it. The longer you stay in the city the more you'll pick up on it, although often trainers never do. Lumoise stands at the heart of Kalos though, so you'll return here many times on your journey."

"Professor," Shauna said. "Can you tell us about Furfrou?"

The professor laughed. "Did that catch your eye, little miss?" Shauna blushed. The professor continued on though, and gave a short explanation about the pokemon Furfrou. It was the poodle pokemon, and many people in Lumoise tried to groom their Furfrou's to look their absolute best. Satori had seen them a couple times and passed by the Furfrou salon, but didn't have any real interest in participating.

Tierno and Trevor interrupted the professor's explanation with their entrance. He waved them over and finally all five trainers were standing in front of the professor. He gave each one of them a good, long look in turn. Satori tried reading his thoughts, but with so many people so close to her it was hard to deduce who was thinking what.

Finally the professor spoke. His voice was calm and soothing. "There is much to discuss, but first there is something of grand importance I must say. I understand that you are having a bit of an argument." Satori and Calem gave each other glances, and lowered their heads. The professor noticed. "You two then, right?" Neither of them looked the professor in the eye.

"There is nothing wrong with having an argument. In fact, it can be healthy sometimes to air out what ails you. None of us are perfect. But it is not a reason to walk away from each other."

"But she—" Calem started to say.

"No no," the professor interrupted. "Don't explain it to me, work it out amongst yourselves. There are few arguments worth ending a friendship over, and I would hate to see you break up your group after such a short time."

Professor Sycamore leaned in close to the five trainers. "Listen," he said softly. "On your travels you're going to meet a lot of people from all over Kalos. Their modes of thought and ways of thinking will be far different than your own and those you are familiar with. But you cannot let yourself get angry with these people just because they are different. You must do your best to _understand _them. If you can, you'll better understand yourselves and the world. If nothing else, please take this advice."

They sheepishly looked at the floor. It was Calem who spoke first, to Satori. "We should talk. I'm sorry for yelling."

"I'm sorry too." Satori said.

Before the silence became too awkward, Sycamore stood upright and clapped his hands. "Now then, I have much more to say about than just that." His eyes were absolutely sparkling and Satori's heart fluttered a tiny bit. She couldn't help notice that Shauna's did the same. "Have you heard about..." The professor leaned in as if he was speaking some secret, but it was clearly just for fun. "Mega evolution?"

Everyone shook their heads, to the professor's delight. "Mega Evolution is a very new discovery, we're on the border of scientific knowledge here. Even more recent than fairies. New data and theories pour in every day about this elusive ability, and I want you guys to help me experiment."

Satori looked around to gauge everyone's reactions. They were just as confused as she was. "But what is it?" Trevor finally asked.

"Well, we all know that Pokemon evolve. Once they reach a certain amount of experience, in an amazing transformation their entire body turns into something completely different. But these evolutions are fixed—that is, every Squirtle evolves into Wartortle, which evolves into Blastoise. It doesn't matter _which _Squirtle you find, it will always evolve along this track—its evolution track."

The kids nodded. They knew this already, as did everyone. But the professor clearly was getting to the point and they listened with extreme interest. The professor spoke his next words dramatically.

"But recently, we've found an evolution _beyond _Blastoise." After the collective gasp from his students, he continued. "And not just Blastoise, there's at least twenty that we know of. And who knows how many that we don't. Unlocking this next evolution is still a mystery to us, but we know it involves _mega stones. _And so,"

The professor swiftly drew around his desk and pulled out a large wooden chest. He opened the lid, revealing three pokeballs that rested below three strange-looking stones. "I present you three—Calem, Shauna and Satori—with these. I would like you to take these pokemon and mega stones and see if you can discover the secrets of mega evolution."

Calem and Shauna hesitated at first, but reached in and each grabbed a pokeball and stone. They held the stone in their palms, taking in its mysterious beauty. Satori, however, stayed her hand. The professor noticed and she felt a bit guilty.

"Professor, I don't want it." She said finally. The professor was surprised, but contrary to Satori's expectations he did not seem upset.

"Oh? Forgive me if you feel I was pressuring you into it. Sometimes I just get so excited, I forget that not everyone—"

"Ah, no that's not quite it." Satori shook her head. "I mean, I don't really just want to be handed a Pokemon. It seems kind of like a forced friendship."

Calem made a sort of arrogant sigh. _Typical of her to say something like that. Don't you understand how the world works?_

The good professor just smiled though. "That's a great way to look at it. There are many ways to be a trainer. Some people want to catch 'em all, and others only want the few they really connect with. There are those who obsess over a single type as many of our gym leaders do, and there are others who obsess over a single Pokemon such as, well, Furfrou. As I said, none of these ways are wrong. You must do your best to understand these other ways that are different than yours."

The professor closed the chest, and turned around to fetch something from his desk.

"I would feel bad not to give you _something _though, so take this." He handed Satori a yellow-and-black pokeball. "This is an ultra ball. It'll work more reliably than a typical pokeball, so save it for that pokemon you really want to catch."

Satori thanked him and put it into her bag.

With that said and done, Sycamore opened his arms as if to embrace the group in a large hug. "Now then, my students. The world of Kalos awaits you, so please, run forward towards your futures!"

And with that dramatic declaration, their little meeting was over. The group all went down the elevator together, but split up once they reached the street. It wasn't because of bad blood, everyone just wanted to do something different in the city. Shauna said something about a PR Video place, and Trevor and Tierno were off doing their own thing. Only Calem stayed with Satori, and asked if she would meet him at a cafe. She agreed.

They settled down at a simple cafe. It didn't have a view except for the street, although that in its own way added to the cafe's charming atmosphere. They took a seat by the window. Calem ordered milk tea while Satori settled for a vanilla latte.

They didn't say anything at first and just enjoyed their drinks. Calem finally broke the silence, although he avoided the topic they came to discuss. "Do you know who that is over there?" He said, gesturing towards the opposite side of the cafe. Satori glanced to where he pointed and recognized the orange hair of Lysandre, whom she had met just a few days previously. But the thought that Satori heard from Calem's mind was not his name, it was _Diantha._

But she didn't know any more than the name. "I recognize Lysandre, but not the person he's with." Satori said honestly.

"That's Diantha. She's a famous actress _and _the Kalos Pokemon champion. I'm surprised she's here at this cafe. She could afford to eat anywhere she wants."

"Having money must be nice," Satori said offhandedly. "Are she and Lysandre involved?"

Calem shook his head. "I don't think so. They're both famous people so I'm sure they're friends. Or at least acquaintances."

"I don't like him."

"Do you like _anybody?_"

Satori and Calem both realized they were on a path to more arguing, and both silently drank from their mugs at the same time. "The professor wants us to _understand _each other, does he?" Satori asked.

There was a loud noise as Calem set his cup down on the table with a little bit more force than necessary. "Let's battle."

"What?"

Calem rose from his seat. "You and I. Let's battle. We've known each other for years, and neither of us like the other. So I say we stop trying to play nice and let our pokemon do the talking. We'll learn more from seeing each other's relationships with our pokemon than any amount of conversation.

The young boy was gleaming and Satori couldn't help but chuckle as she rose from her seat to meet Calem's gaze. "How typical of a wannabee champion to come up with a solution like that." Satori saw Calem get visibly angry at her words, but she then held out her hand and smiled. "But fine, let's do it."

Calem grasped Satori's hand, sealing the agreement. "Then we are rivals," Calem said.

"Apparently so."

They had apparently made a bit of a scene, because everyone around the two kids had taken to staring at them. Satori didn't think they had spoken loudly, but they were standing up and shaking hands dramatically over the table. They were both embarrassed, deciding to finish their drinks quickly and exit the cafe before anyone complained.

From there they decided to split up since Calem wanted to explore the city. They waved each other off, and Satori went off on her own. But it didn't last. She literally bumped into Shauna not ten minutes later, who looked a bit angry.

"Damn these Lumoise jerks!" She shouted. "They're so freaking pompous, all I wanted to was to learn about Furfrou, why are they so mean?" Satori let her vent. After a string of complaints and a large number of very bad words, Shauna finally cooled off. The two girls decided to sit on a bench near the gatehouse to Route Five.

Before long, Shauna launched herself up from the bench energetically. "Yeah, screw this city," she said. "I want to go, let's go Satori."

"What about the others?" Satori asked.

"Let's send them a Holo Cast and tell them they can catch up. If they're not too slow that is," Shauna said with a grin.

They passed through the gatehouse without speaking to the attendant, and came out the other side to lush trees and landscapes. The transition from big, bustling city to scenic countryside was very abrupt, although in this particular instance something soured the view. To their right was a massive skate park where a large score of people were on roller blades. The concrete looked very out of place, so Satori heightened her walking pace to get past it sooner.

However, the route never did fully return to nature. There were numerous metal bars and other skate trick equipment all across the route. The roller bladers must have taken this entire route over for their own entertainment. Satori couldn't complain _too _much, better they all confine themselves to a single route than to ruin the entire continent.

But it did make Satori want to rush through the route to the town on the other side. Shauna wasn't bothered as much as Satori, but didn't protest. They had a few encounters of course, and Satori battled a few trainers who caught her gaze. But all in all they reached the next town quickly with as minimal effort as possible.

Despite the noise of the roller bladers however, Satori inexplicably enjoyed the walk.

Still, she was glad to see the roller blading had stopped completely by the time they reached what turned out to be Camphrier town. But it wasn't a town at all. It was a castle.

A high curtain wall surrounded the entire area, although there were no gatehouses nor guards. The wall just ended on either side of the road. As they got closer, Satori realized it was very old. The castle must be for historical purposes by now. The keep could be seen from nearly any point in Camphrier and Shauna and Satori naturally were drawn to it first. A large placard was placed outside that read _Shabboneau Castle_. It was fairly desolate, but there were no signs saying they couldn't go in.

The girls entered the castle's entrance hall, but it was fairly barren. There was a simple wooden desk, but that's about it. There were two men standing off to the side near an arched doorway, one of which wore a white gi. Satori figured he was probably the caretaker of the castle.

The man in the gi noticed the girls walk in, and with a surprised look walked over to them. "It's strange to get visitors here, welcome to the Shabboneau Castle. I'd offer you a tour, but regretfully I actually have business to attend to." _Why did she have to come back today of all days, when I have customers?_

Satori didn't understand his thoughts that well since he didn't name any names, but she was curious enough to ask. "What's wrong?"

"Gah, the bridge from here to the coastal region is blocked again. Excuse me, I have to deal with this. Feel free to explore the castle if you wish." The man said, and rushed out. The other man followed him.

Shauna looked to Satori. _I kind of want to follow them, _thought Shauna.

"Let's follow them." Satori suggested. She wanted to, too.

They had left the castle town and traveled on the next route for only a few minutes before they came across a large bridge. It arched over a raging river, but what caught Satori's attention wasn't the river, it was what was on the bridge.

A woman.

From Satori's vantage point she couldn't make much out about the woman, nor could read her thoughts. She was wearing a brown blouse and a long blue skirt, but besides that Satori couldn't deduce anything. She and Shauna had caught up to the men they had seen in the castle. They were reluctant to step onto the bridge for some reason.

The man in the gi recognized Satori. "Oh, you guys followed us here?"

"Yeah, sorry." Shauna said. "We were curious. But the bridge looks fine to me, what was all the ruckus about?"

The man scratched his neck. "Well, it's that person standing in the middle of it. She's...well, you'll understand better if you try to cross yourselves."

Satori and Shauna looked at each other, confused. With a shrug, Shauna stepped onto the wooden part of the bridge. She made it a few paces before stopping, and turning back towards Satori.

_Look at them standing over there on solid land, _Shauna thought. _Why are they so lucky to be on solid land? I'm jealous. I want to be on solid land. No, screw this, I'm going back over there. _Shauna marched back off the bridge. A few moments went by and she shook her head back and fourth.

"W-what just—?"

"Yeah, we don't get it either." The man said. "But that sort of thing always happens when that woman stands on the bridge. No one can physically cross and always want to come back a few steps in. Not even pokemon seem to be immune."

"You sound like you've dealt with this in the past," Shauna said. "What did you do those times?"

"Sometimes she just leaves on her own. Other times we had to go to the mansion up north and ask for assistance. They can usually scare her off."

Satori and the others stood there staring at the woman on the bridge for a few moments, none of them really sure what to do. Shauna lightly tugged on Satori's sleeve and whispered. "We should solve this for them."

"Why?"

"We're trainers, this is the kind of stuff we _do." _

Satori was going to reject Shauna's proposal, but the man cut in before she could. "Oh ho ho, you'll help us? Excellent, thank you so much." He said as if he knew that Satori was about to decline. But he pressured the two young trainers into taking the task upon themselves, and promptly made his exit before they could protest.

Which left just Satori and Shauna standing by the bridge without a clue in what to do. They could go up to the mansion and beg for help, or they could stay here and deal with the woman themselves.

"HEY YOU!" Shauna yelled over to the person. "Stop being mean."

"Brilliant plan," Satori commented. It seemed to catch the bridge woman's attention though, and took a few paces towards the girls.

_Jealous. Jealous. I'm jealous. Are those two trainers? I'm jealous of them. Why do they get to be trainers and not me? I'm jealous. They have pokemon and not me, I'm jealous. And that girl on the left has purple hair, I'm jealous. Are those two sisters? I'm jealous._

Satori was taken aback at the wave of thoughts that hit her as the woman approached. She was so...so _broken. _The thoughts were insane, she was reading a crazy person's mind.

…_.get to explore all around the continent, get to meet interesting people, I'm jealous..._

"This person...this person is..." Satori spoke slowly and tried to get the words out. But the woman's thoughts were clouding her mind. But she couldn't stop listening, the Third Eye could not be turned off.

…_.more slender than me and has nicer skin and..._

The bridge woman stopped not too far from Satori and Shauna and crossed her arms. "Hey, I'm not being mean," she pouted.

"You're blocking people from crossing the bridge," Shauna said strongly. "Somehow. So stop it!"

"No."_ I can't leave, not until he returns. I can never leave my vigil here. I'm jealous~_

Satori backed away from the woman, and dragged Shauna with her. She protested at first, but Satori just pulled harder. If they were rude to the bridge woman, no one around seemed to mind.

"What is it, Satori?" Shauna asked in a huff. "We need to—"

"We can't," Satori said. The woman was adamant about staying on the bridge. "Let's do what the man suggested and go to the castle up north."

"Mmm," Shauna looked down and sighed. "I guess." She obviously wanted to deal with it herself, but Satori would rather not waste time on such a fruitless endeavor. Better to pass it off to the people who have been dealing with it all along.

The way to the mansion was to take route six. It jutted off of route seven almost immediately outside of Camphrier and went through a nice forested area. It was an exceptionally pleasant walk, although it was sunset by the time they made it through.

That's when they decided to stop walking.

The walls of the mansion were deep crimson and the roofs were black. Some halls were over five stories, and an enormous and ornate clock tower stood above even those. It was strange, unnatural, and Satori couldn't help but shudder. There wasn't a single window, not one, and the only entrance were two large double doors defended by a large wrought-iron gate and outer wall.

Satori's first instinct was to turn right around and chalk this up to her worst idea ever. The mansion was intimidating, but not in the way she would expect. There were no gargoyles, no spiked fences, nothing all that _gothic. _Satori had a feeling this mansion wouldn't do any overtly horrific or terrible things to her.

If she entered _this _mansion, she would simply _be gone_. That was the sort of feeling it gave off.

"Ahh...ummm..." Shauna drew close to Satori. "D-Do we really..."

Satori nodded, and forced them to step forward.

They didn't even make it to the gate before someone laid a hand on Satori's shoulder. She jumped at the contact and spun around to see a very tall woman. She had long, light brown hair done in braids and wore a green china dress with a matching blouse. She was at least two heads taller than her.

"Ha, sorry. Did I scare ya?" asked the woman.

Satori tried to control herself and brushed off her blouse. "I think I'm just a little on edge." Satori had _heard _the woman's thoughts, but she wasn't paying attention enough to realize how close she was.

The woman put her hands on her hips and smiled. "Name's Meiling. I've never seen you before, cha doin' out here? You have business inside?"

"Yes." Satori looked back towards the mansion, but decided she would rather look at Meiling even if she had to bend her neck backwards to do so. "There's a person on the bridge this mansion is supposed to be able to help with."

Meiling's look soured a little bit. _The mistress won't want to deal with that again, maybe I should just send them off._ "Thats, ah, sorry. I don't think—"

"Meiling," a soft but commanding voice cut through the air. All three of them spun on their heels towards the voice. Satori saw a silver-haired woman wearing an elegant maid outfit who was definitely not there a second ago. "Were you about to deny a guest entry who had legitimate business with the mistress?"

"N-No of course not." Meiling saluted and stood up straight. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

Satori could feel the pure, unadulterated terror coming from Meiling towards this new person. She thought it would be prudent to adopt the same emotion, and tried not to do anything noticeable. Satori had a feeling she was way in over her head here.

Shauna, too, seemed to read the mood.

The maid turned towards the girls and smiled. It wasn't very comforting. "I am Izayoi Sakuya. Welcome to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. May I have your names?"

Satori took a deep breath. "Komeiji Satori."

"S-Shauna."

"Well Miss Komeiji, Miss Shauna, please come in. The mistress will be delighted to have guests, we get them so rarely."

The two of them couldn't do anything but nod and follow the maid into the mansion. The interior was predictably dark, only lit by a chain of what looked like old-fashioned gas lanterns. But as the maid led her through one of the hallways, Satori caught a few signs of actual modern technology. There were definite electrical outlets on the walls and a few subtle lights. Still, it was far darker than it needed to be even without windows.

There was also a strange sense Satori was getting about the size of the place. The mansion looked plenty large from the outside, but it seemed even larger on the inside. She wondered if there was some trick or optical illusion to it.

Finally the maid led them to a large parlor. There were no windows but it was very well lit compared to the hallways. An ornate chandelier hung from the ceiling above a sturdy wooden table. Sakuya pulled out a few chairs and urged Satori and Shauna to take a seat.

They did, and the maid bowed. "Please excuse me while I inform the mistress of your arrival. Is there any type of tea you would prefer? We can provide every brew. Or would you prefer coffee?"

Satori had a suspicion that denying refreshments would be an extremely dangerous option. "Please bring me whichever tea you would personally recommend."

_I don't really want to drink anything, _Shauna thought. "I—"

"Shauna will have the same," Satori said quickly and cut her a glance.

"As you wish." With that, the maid turned around and left through one of the doors. Her movements were precise and calculated. Satori had been reading her mind the whole walk over, but couldn't gleam anything useful. They were all of her duties which were extremely numerous and what she would be taking care of next.

Satori spun the tendrils of her Third Eye around her fingers while waiting for the mistress to arrive. Shauna on the other hand was resisting the urge to bite her nails.

The wait was only a few minutes before a figure walked through the door. Satori and Shauna froze when they saw her. A girl no older than themselves wearing a pink frock, but her eyes were deep red. And from her back were two large, black wings.

The girl walked towards the other end of the table, her maid following dutifully behind her. Sakuya pulled out the seat for her before pouring them all tea. Once that was finished, the mistress looked over at them both and smiled. On either side of her mouth were two long fangs.

"I am Remilia Scarlet. Welcome to my mansion."

Satori saw that Shauna was gripping the seat of her chair so tightly her knuckles were white. "Y-y-you're a—" Shauna stuttered.

"Indeed, I am a vampire." Remilia flapped her wings lightly to drive the point home. "But do not be afraid, you are a guest here. I would not dare to tarnish the ways of things by acting against a guest in my household."

That didn't really reassure Shauna, but she kept quiet. Satori didn't have much to say until Remilia turned towards her with a glimmer in her eye.

"Well well, don't you have an interesting smell about you, girl." Remilia said.

Satori's eyes widened. She was dead. She was so dead. Of course Remilia would know she's a youkai. "Thank you?"

Remilia glanced towards Shauna, then back at Satori. _Keeping it a secret from the human, are you? I can leverage that._ "Ah, thank you Sakuya." Remilia carefully grabbed the teacup that Sakuya had set down for her and sipped. "Magnificent, as always."

Satori looked down at her own cup of tea, and mimicked Remilia's movements. It was, in a word, delicious. "This is excellent."

"You should expect nothing less, here," Remilia said. "I have introduced myself, but you two have yet to reciprocate."

"I'm sorry," Satori said quickly. "My name is Komeiji Satori."

"I'm Shauna," Shauna said meekly.

"Well then, Satori, Shauna, what brings you two to my domain?"

While trying to word her next sentence, Satori took another sip of her tea. Shauna sure wasn't going to take point in this conversation, she was trying to make herself as little as possible. Satori actually kind of wanted to just drink the tea and enjoy it rather than having to talk.

She finally set it down and looked back to her host. "A woman is blocking the bridge, and we hear that you are capable of chasing her off."

Remilia nodded and flashed a rather malicious smile. "And if I did this for you, what would I get in return?" _That woman is getting to the point where it would be better to just kill her and be done with it._

"We don't have a lot of money."

"Do you think I need money?" Remilia gestured to the rest of the room, a display of fabulous wealth.

Satori stayed quiet for a moment, trying to gauge Remilia's thoughts. It didn't help though, Remilia was waiting for Satori to come up with something useful. Shauna was still gripping the edges of her seat and was completely unhelpful.

"Is there no service you need?" Satori asked.

"None that Sakuya cannot or will not already handle."

Another swing and a miss. Remilia was smiling though, she was enjoying making Satori squirm. Satori thought long and hard while finishing her cup of tea. She set it down on the table and stood up from her chair. Satori placed her hand on her chest.

"Then I will offer my body."

Remilia choked on her tea. "W-What?"

Satori acted as confident as she could. "You said I had a _smell_ about me, Remilia. I do think that is a useful smell, so I'll let you use me for twenty-four hours if you deal with the bridge problem."

_Oh, that's what you meant. She seems a stronger type of youkai, this is enticing. _Remilia sipped her tea. "Very well, I shall claim that payment at my convenience."

That wasn't quite what Satori wanted, she would have preferred to get it over with now. But she nodded and sat back down at the table.

"Would you stay for dinner?" Remilia asked. "I'll fix your problem once the night falls, but until then I _insist _you try Sakuya's cooking."

The sound of that 'insist' gave Satori the feeling that she didn't actually have a choice in the matter. "Alright."

Sakuya led them all to the dining room and set their places. The meal was prepared surprisingly quick given how elaborate it was, but when youkai get involved such strangeness is commonplace. Within a minute everyone had their entree.

The thing was, Satori knew what she was about to eat. Remilia _knew _she knew what she was about to eat. And yet she asked anyways.

"Is something wrong, Satori? I hope the meal is to your liking, my maid is an excellent chef."

This did not help matters, and neither did Shauna greedily shoveling the meat into her mouth next to her. The food must have distracted her from her worry. Shauna, unlike Satori, did _not _know what she was eating. But Satori knew, which is why she stayed her hand from stabbing into the slab of meat before her.

_It's a Furfrou._

Satori wasn't sure what the laws were on killing and eating Pokemon, but she had a feeling that it was a great big "NO." Most if not all of them were entirely sentient, and Satori could never remember seeing any Pokemon meat on any menu.

But, well, it was already dead.

So Satori, after hesitating as long as she possibly could, took a bite. And then she felt a swash of guilt at how good it tasted. It didn't have the right to taste so good, it was supposed to taste _bad. _She was supposed to grimace through it to please her host and then be on her way. She wasn't supposed to _enjoy it._

Satori begrudgingly finished her delicious dinner, and the maid brought out dessert. A rich slice of chocolate cake, and as far as Satori could tell there was nothing sinister about it. Except for Remilia's slice, which had blood mixed into the frosting.

But with her wings and fangs, Remilia likely had a diet that Satori didn't want to know the exact details of anyways. They all finished their cake without a word, and the maid cleaned away the dishes.

"Alright." Remilia wiped her mouth with her napkin. "Thank you for joining me, it's nice to have guests. I would offer you to stay the night, but I wouldn't expect you to trust me that much so soon."

Shauna looked away.

"Of course," Remilia said softly. "It would not do to have you wander alone at night. Sakuya will escort you back to town, the woods can be dangerous at night around here."

Sakuya bowed, and left the room. Satori considered protesting the escort, but refusing Remilia's hospitality felt like an incredibly bad idea. At the same time, she couldn't help but think thoughts of their mutilated corpses being found in the woods with knives stuck in them from all directions.

They left the mansion after a few final salutations. The mansion was even more intimidating in the moonlight than it was in the sunset, likely by design. The gate guard waved to Satori, or more likely Sakuya who was escorting them.

The woods were very dark, and Satori was suddenly very grateful for the escort. Sakuya walked with purpose and confidence, and her thoughts mimicked her pose. Satori usually tried to walk with that same confidence, but it was mostly an act. Sakuya however lived and breathed that confidence.

Satori felt her thoughts falter slightly though, and a moment later Sakuya relaxed her stance. "I'm sorry for mistress Remilia's behavior," she said.

"I'm sorry?"

"She doesn't have many honest friends. One, to be exact." Sakuya looked down at her feet. "Most of her interactions with people involve manipulating them, or controlling them. She's a very influential figure in Kalos, and it's hard for her to make friends when she has that much power."

"She has an interesting way of trying."

Sakuya felt the malice in those words. "Please forgive her. It may not seem like it, Miss Komeiji, but she likes you. If you would give her—"

"You love her."

"Ah, how did you..." Sakuya broke her composure, but it took less than a second for her to regain it. "Well, you're correct. Please don't let my bias dissuade you."

The lights of the town appeared in the distance. It was past midnight, but there was still plenty of light from the streetlamps and twenty-four hour services. Sakuya stopped walking and bowed to the others. Satori and Shauna turned towards her.

"I hope you two have a pleasant evening." Sakuya straightened up. "And we'll be—"

"Expecting me back, yeah." Satori sighed. "That was the deal."

Sakuya nodded. "Please don't worry about it too much. Enjoy your evening." Sakuya turned to leave.

Once the maid was gone, Shauna visibly relaxed.

"Oh my god, Satori, that was a vampire," she exclaimed. "We could have died!"

"She wasn't, ah," Satori struggled for the words. "Entirely malicious."

"Not entirely malicious? She wanted to eat us." Shauna crossed her arms. "What were you talking about with her anyways? Smells? Why the hell did you make an offer that required you to go back?"

"Don't concern yourself with it."

_Maybe you really are a youkai. _Shauna was by no means satisfied with that answer, but didn't say anything as they split up to go back to their respective rooms. Satori, however, was still nervous. She had pried into Remilia's trauma almost on reflex back at the mansion. There was something very dangerous in her basement.

But Satori put it out of her mind. That was a problem for another day.

The next day, Calem and the others arrived in town. When Satori met up with them they looked strange. Shauna had told them about their little excursion, and obviously Calem took that as confirmation Satori was not trustworthy. Associating with vampires tends to do that. But they still decided to travel together, Sycamore's words still providing a small amount of glue between them.

The first landmark they reached was the large bridge, although they hurried past it. The woman was missing, the bridge free and clear to be traversed. Satori had mixed feelings about that, but they passed over the bridge with no trouble.

On the second day they came across a small building on the side of the road. There was a simple wooden fence that ran around the entire property, and Satori could see a number of different pokemon playing with various toys that had been set out.

"That's the pokemon daycare," explained Trevor. "You can drop off Pokemon and have them trained for you. It's a pretty famous establishment. I think it's the only one in Kalos."

Shauna look unimpressed. "Doesn't that defeat the point of being a trainer?"

Trevor looked a bit uncomfortable. "W-Well, my parents said it's also a place where Pokemon can be bred, although they never really went into detail."

The group looked around at each other but none of them held any real interest in that sort of thing. They decided to just move on and didn't even enter the daycare. The road was long and they had a long way left to travel.

The road was fairly simple but well-groomed and drained. There were wide fields of flowers on the left and a massive lake on the right. Calem said the lake was so large they wouldn't get past it for days. It stretched as far as Satori could see in every direction.

Mornings and evenings were usually spent walking on the road, but during the afternoons the groups would all trample through the flowers looking for wild pokemon. Satori had encountered a few but none really struck her and her roster remained at a lonely two. Calem caught a bunch, probably one of each type that could be found on this route.

On the fourth morning, Satori spotted a building off in the distance. She hadn't seen it during the previous evening but in the light of the morning sun it was clearly visible about an hour ahead of them.

"What's that," she asked no one in particular.

Trevor raised his hand to shield his eyes from the sun and look to where Satori pointed. "Oh," he said, "that's the Battle Chateau. It's where rich people go to battle pokemon. They play for really high stakes, or so I hear. I've never gone, of course."

The building gave them a nice landmark to walk towards, and soon enough they reached the Chateau. It was not actually on land, Satori realized, but suspended above the lake. There was a lowered drawbridge connecting the Chateau and the road, although it looked like it was for aesthetic purposes rather than function. The chains were rusted and old and the architecture a similar style to Camphrier.

"It looks intimidating." Shauna said. _Although not nearly on the level of that vampire's place._

"I'm going in," Satori declared walking across the drawbridge. She turned back and saw that none of her companions were following her. Their loss. Satori turned back and opened the doors.

She immediately regretted it.

Standing there in the entrance was Viola, the Santalune Gym Leader. "Ah, you!" Viola said. She then coughed. "Excuse me, I have something to take care of..." Viola then fast-walked away from the entrance and slipped past another door into the depths of the Chateau. Satori shrugged, but before she could walk on a man in a butler uniform stopped her.

"Excuse me, miss," he said. "You need a sponsor to participate in the Battle Chateau."

"I..oh, okay." Satori said. The butler then escorted her out and she returned to her companions in shame.

"No luck?" Tierno asked.

Satori shook her head. "You need a sponsor to get in."

With that, the group moved on. Satori scanned the thoughts of everyone to see what they were thinking about her, but no one seemed to care.

Their excursion lasted another four days without incident. Satori had encountered a few new Pokemon, including a strange-looking one her Pokedex identified as a Smeagle. But she had not caught it. There had been a couple of trainer battles as well, and Satori had won them all. She felt quite good about that.

The party finally reached the end of the road eight days after they left Camphrier. But that was the easy part. Their next leg would involve navigating through a cave, and _then _they would have to scale down a cliff. There was apparently a path to follow, but it wasn't exactly a walk in the park.

"Now what?" Shauna asked. The sun was high in the sky and they had reached the mouth of a cave.

"Well," Trevor said. "This cave leads to Cyllage City. Another cave a bit south of here leads to Ambrette. It doesn't have a gym, but it has a massive archeological site."

"I vote for Cyllage," Shauna said. "Fossils are boring."

Trevor shook his head. "I don't think they're that boring..." He said meekly. "But I do agree that we should go to Cyllage. It's supposed to be much easier down the mountain that way."

Calem crossed his arms and Satori knew he disagreed. "I say we go to Ambrette. We may learn something about megastones there, and I would hate to just pass up a city on our journey. Gym or no gym."

"I side with Calem," Satori said. "I see no reason why we should rush to Cyllage." She also wanted to get in some training before facing the gym leader, she didn't think she was quite up to the task yet.

Calem seemed a bit surprised his nemesis sided with him, but otherwise didn't respond. Everyone then looked to Tierno, who would cast the deciding vote.

"I, uh, say Cyllage."

"Alright then," Satori said quickly. "I guess we'll meet up with you three later then."

The group hesitated, causing Satori to grin a bit. They hadn't intended on splitting up and assumed they would vote democratically. Satori knew this and so decided to intervene and impose her own will. No one contradicted her. However, Calem spoke up just before everyone said their goodbyes.

"Wait," he said. "Before we do, I want to battle you Satori."

"Hmm? Now?"

"Yes, now."

Satori shrugged. "Alright, let's do it."

The others made room for the imminent pokemon battle that would soon take place. And, soon enough, Satori faced off against her rival for the first time. They began by flashing their rosters—2 balls each. Satori knew Calem had caught a lot more than two, but he likely didn't train any more up for combat.

_Hmm, Satori will likely open with her Pikachu, _Calem thought. _I guess I'll open with Fletchling then. That's good, it will let my evolved starter be a surprise for the end. That should shake her a bit._

Satori couldn't help but feel something dramatic had been spoiled for her, although it was a feeling she was familiar with. Many times when Rin or Utsuho had good news they wanted to tell her, she would know before they could get the words out.

In any case, Fennekin would be coming out first. Satori grasped the ball in her hand and felt its cool metal in the palm of her right hand. In a dramatic motion, she and Calem tossed their pokemon out at the same time. As predicted, the small bird-like pokemon Flechling appeared on Calem's side as Fennekin emerged on Satori's.

_Dammit, I guessed wrong! _Calem thought. Satori snickered, but the combat wasn't exactly in her favor. Fletchling and Fennekin were both fire types, this battle would last a while just due to neither pokemon being really effective against the other.

"Fletchling, peck." Calem shouted. His pokemon took to the sky and dived towards Fennekin. However, Satori focused on the pokmon and read its mind to see how it would angle its attack. It was no trouble for Satori to figure out its patterns.

"Fen, right." Satori shouted. Fennekin hopped to the right and dodged the bird's peck. Without a command from its master, it then tackled the bird before it could recover. Satori was proud of her skill, but congratulations would have to wait for later.

"Quick attack!"

The Fletchling made contact with Fennekin before Satori could respond. Her ability was powerful to be sure, but she couldn't stop time. And she had a feeling Calem knew this was a weakness of hers, because it had its Flechling mostly use quick attacks except for the odd peck. Satori couldn't direct her pokemon against the quick attacks, well, quickly enough, but the pecks were easy.

But the faster the attack the less damage it could do. Fennekin couldn't use her full power since any fire moves would be ineffective against the fire bird, but she was still plenty strong. The battle was long and both pokemon were brought to their limits, but to Satori's remiss her Fennekin fell first. She recalled him and reached for her next pokemon.

"Go, Pikachu!" She shouted, throwing the ball. The Pikachu emerged ready for combat.

_Let's do this, _the Pikachu said. _That little bird's got nothing on me._ He ran forward without Satori's command, sparks flying from his cheeks. Fletchling took to the sky, but could not dodge the blaze of electricity that came from the Pikachu. In a cackle, the Fletchling fell to the ground unconscious. _You're welcome, master._

Satori didn't scold her Pikachu for being effective, but she didn't praise him either. Although this was mainly since they were in the heat of battle. Calem recalled the Fletchling and pulled out his last pokeball. Satori saw a smile on his face as he threw it.

From it emerged a blue, frog like pokemon. But this pokemon was much larger and stronger-looking than the Froakie that Calem had started with. Satori whipped out her Pokedex to scan it. "Frogadier," it said in its mechanical voice. "The bubble frog pokemon. Its swiftness is unparalleled. It can scale a tower of more than 2,000 feet in less than a minute."

Satori did a double take on that description. She did some quick mental calculations and came to the conclusion that Calem's pokemon had a speed of "damn fast."

But Satori couldn't help but smile. After all, it's still a water type. Which meant that it would be easy prey for her Pikachu.

"Impressed?" Calem asked loudly so Satori could hear. She chuckled at the taunt.

"I will be if it wins."

The Pikachu and Frogadier engaged. Frogadier may be fast, but Pikachu was also known for its quickness. Unfortunately this left Satori feeling a bit worthless. She couldn't process what was happening fast enough to direct Pikachu's dodges. So she instead refocused on Calem.

_I'm at a type disadvantage, _he thought. _Bubble won't be particularly helpful, and if Satori's Pikachu lands just one or two hits then I'll lose. Speed is the name of the game here._

This insight didn't help Satori much, and she had a sudden feeling of helplessness as she simply watched her Pikachu fight without her. But she looked up from the fight and saw that Calem was in the same situation she was in. Both the Froagdier and Pikachu were just much too fast, faster than either of the trainers could hope to keep up with.

It was up to the pokemon's own abilities. Unless Satori meddled.

And so she did.

She and Calem had been neighbors for quite some time, and she had a good understanding of the trauma that sat in the depths of his heart. It wasn't particularly troublesome, a rather typical desire to walk in his parents' footsteps and a fear that he would not live up to their expectations. Hardly worthy of the word 'trauma,' but Satori could still manipulate it.

She ripped this thought to the surface of Calem's mind and made it so he could think of nothing else. A forceful mental attack. Satori stared at Calem as his arms started shaking from the sudden fear, and relished the thoughts she had forced him to start thinking.

_Oh my god, what if I lose here? What if I can never beat Satori, and fail at all the gyms and can't collect the badges...oh my god, how could I ever face my father if that happened? If I had to say that I just couldn't do it, that Satori was better than me_—

And Frogadier, being Calem's pokemon, notice that something was wrong with its master and turned to check. A distraction which Pikachu was trained and all too ready to take advantage of. It was just a split second, but that was all it needed to launch a thunder shock towards the frog pokemon. It landed, and knocked the pokemon out cold.

Type advantages really were how to play the game.

The Pikachu trotted up to Satori arrogantly. _I could have taken him on my own._

Satori knelt down and got close to the Pikachu. Satori noticed how it stood its ground, preparing to take some sort of punishment it thought she would dish out on it for being disobedient. However, Satori just patted it on the head.

"But then I wouldn't get to have any fun," she whispered. She didn't really want Calem to know she had interfered, who was standing next to his unconscious pokemon nursing them back to health.

_Oh, I didn't—,_ The Pikachu said. _You're right, master._

"I know." Satori pet it one last time before standing up and walking over to Calem. The Pikachu walked beside her, but before she could talk to him the other three of their companions rushed over.

"Wow, that was so crazy!" Shauna exclaimed.

"Yeah, your pokemon were amazingly quick." Trevor said.

"It was like some sort of awesome dance," said Tierno.

Calem and Satori both smiled at the comments. Satori hadn't exactly harmed Calem like she had the bridge woman, she just prodded him enough to create an opening in the battle. He looked disappointed about it though.

"I can't believe I got distracted like that," he said. "That usually doesn't happen."

Satori shrugged, but had a malicious smile on her face. "Were you scared?" she asked tauntingly. "Scary Satori who can see right through you with her giant eye~" She stroked her Third Eye on top and had it look at Calem. "Or, however the stories went. No one ever actually told me them directly, for obvious reasons."

Calem averted his gaze. He and the other neighborhood kids _had _called her names like that behind her back. _How did she know that, _he thought in full view of Satori. _Maybe she really can see right through us._

But Calem stood tall and looked Satori in the eyes—the ones on her head—and held out his arm. "It was a good battle." He said.

Satori took his hand and shook. "Honestly it was mostly Pikachu."

Calem and the group laughed. "You trained him though," he added. "That accounts for a lot."

"Thanks."


	3. Cliff 2

_Satori in Kalos_

**Chapter 3  
><strong>**Cliff 2**

All her taunting aside, Satori was impressed with Calem's preparedness. She hadn't brought a flashlight, or had excess pokeballs, or potions or anything of that nature. She bought a few pokeballs back in Lumoise, but even though she was having good luck in trainer battles her budget was low.

The cave, or "Connecting Cave" as Calem pointed out, was as boring as its naming scheme. It rarely changed course from a straight line. There were a few narrow side-paths and larger chambers, but it was nearly impossible to get lost. All in all, there was only one notable feature of the cave.

"I hate these damn Zubats!" Calem complained loudly. His voice echoed throughout the cave.

"Ugh, I'm forced to agree." Satori said.

The cave wasn't all that long, but they decided to spend the night inside of it instead of going the whole way through. Calem and Satori didn't talk to each other much around the small campfire they made. Satori mostly focused on playing with Fennekin or Pikachu, and Calem with his own pokemon.

There was no sunrise in the cave, but they had alarm clocks on their Holo Casters. After a quick breakfast, they were soon on their way.

"Uh oh," Calem said after an hour of walking. "Can you hear that?"

Satori closed her eyes and tried to listen. She could hear something faint in the distance. "Is that...rain?"

Calem nodded. "I knew it rained pretty heavily on the coast, but I was hoping we would get lucky. Clearly that's not the case."

Sure enough, as they reached the mouth of the cave they encountered a downpour of rain. The sky was dark despite it being noon and heavy rain splashed onto the ground creating large puddles.

"I don't have an umbrella," Satori said a bit meekly. "Can I come under yours?"

"No."

"W-What, why not?" Satori asked.

"I meant I don't actually have one."

Satori rolled her eyes. "So much for being Mr. Prepared."

"I don't see you having one either." The rain was coming down heavily and it would only make their path more difficult. It was already a somewhat dangerous area being high up in the cliffs, one slip and a traveler could fall to their death.

Before Satori could say anything, Calem pulled out his own Holo Caster and checked the weather forecast. Satori knew the news before he spoke it aloud.

"Dammit, it's going to rain for the next—"

"We can't just sit in a cave for four days," Satori said. "Do you just want to risk it?"

It was Fennekin's thoughts that entered Satori's mind first. _I do not wish to travel with you through such a torrent. Please return me to my dry and comfortable pokeball, master._

_Me too, _said Pikachu. _Rain sucks, if there's anything good about bowing my strength to you its that I can bypass crap like this._

Satori sighed and returned both her pokemon to their respective pokeballs. They had the privilege of being warm and protected from the elements, but Satori would have to brave them. If Calem agreed, that is.

"I don't want to," he said and took a long pause. "But I think we have to."

And so the trainers packed away all of their belongings and made them as water-tight as possible. They had to count down from three before they could actually muster the courage to step out of the protective mouth of the cave.

The torrent of rain smashed down on Satori and soaked her coat completely. Within seconds water got onto her socks and in her shoes and drenched her bag. She and Calem took as quick of a pace as they could through the rocky terrain.

They had not encountered any Pokemon at all. All the wild pokemon were apparently doing the _sane _thing and taking cover from the storm. Although the clouds blocked out the sun, it got even darker as night finally arrived. They were not foolish enough to travel during the night through rain, and after six hours of traveling through a non-stop downpour they needed a long, dry break.

"How about that?" Satori shouted over the noise of the downpour. She pointed towards a small overhang in the mountain. It was anything but spacious, but they could make a fire under it. Calem nodded, there was nowhere else better.

They quickly pitched the tent as much as they could under the overhang, but about half of it was exposed to the rain. Calem said this was okay, the tent could withstand it. Using Fennekin, they dried out some firewood and lit it ablaze.

Pokemon were very convenient.

Satori and Calem dried themselves and their clothes next to the large fire they had made with Fennekin's help. _Always glad to be of service, master, _it said cordially.

Their little shelter was nice, and Fennekin's fire kept them warm. Satori leaned against the wall of the mountain and looked out. The night rain obscured her vision, and she couldn't really see farther than a large mound a little ways out.

BOOM!

Lightning cracked and thunder bellowed so suddenly that Calem tripped over himself in fright. Satori was even more afraid, but not of the sound.

She had seen a black silhouette of a massive hound standing atop the hill she was gazing at. It was just in the moment that the lightning struck, but she knew she saw it.

"Something is there," she shouted. "Fen!"

Fennekin immediately stepped in front of Satori and prepared to fight. Calem was quick on the uptake, his hand grasping the red and white pokeball housing Frogadier. A minute went by with nothing but the sounds of rain.

_Disaster is coming._

Satori heard the thought before she could see the creature.

_Disaster is coming._

Its thoughts repeated. Soon after, the source of those thoughts came into the light of the fire.

The hound was of pure white and the rain slipped off its fur. Satori's eyes were drawn to its head where a long horn protruded shaped like a crescent moon. Satori fumbled with her Pokedex before she brought it out to scan what she assumed was a pokemon.

"Absol. The disaster pokemon. It seems to be able to detect imminent natural disasters. Although it is theorized that this is due to its horn no experimental data has shown this to be accurate."

_Disaster is coming._

Its thoughts certainly matched up with the Pokedex, but Satori didn't know what to do with the information. The Absol continued to step closer, and Fennekin flared up and launched an ember attack at it.

Satori was surprised the flames carried so well in the rain. They struck the Absol straight and true. If the rain hindered it in any way, Satori sure couldn't tell.

But the Absol was no trifle, and lashed out back at the Fennekin. It hit hard and Satori could empathize with the pain her Fennekin felt. Satori was about to pull out Pikachu, but Fennekin stopped her. _Master, let me. I can do this._

With that, Satori stepped back and let Fennekin handle the battle. She desperately tried to read the mind of the Absol, but its movements seemed to be purely on instinct. Or maybe she was just not in a clear enough state of mind to make sense of it.

Fennekin was doing just fine without her though. Its next movement was to put the campfire between it and the Absol, launching an ember and using the existing fire to enhance its power. The Absol lowered its head and gave up after that, slowly stepping back away from the group.

_Perhaps someone else..._

"Wait!" Satori shouted. "Please, what disaster is coming?"

Calem looked over at her strangely, but Satori didn't care. She was focused on the Absol who turned its head back towards them. _Human girl, you understand me?_

"Yes, I do."

The Absol looked as if it were deep in thought, but Satori knew that it wasn't really thinking much at all. She actually felt a little guilty, the Absol was concerned with the wounds Fennekin had given it. But it finally spoke. _Then listen, please. __D__isaster is coming._

"But what disaster?"

_I know not. We Absol are blessed with the future knowledge of disasters, but this one I cannot place my paw on. I know it is coming, but its nature...it is a being of pure destruction. That is all I know._

"What does that mean?" Satori pleaded. "Is it going to be a flood? Fire? Earthquake?"

The Absol shook its head. _It's none of those. Those things we know of. This one, it is unlike anything that has ever happened before. It terrifies all of us Absol to our very bones._

Satori was shaking. Fear.

It was fear she was feeling. A feeling she forced onto others so often, but rarely felt herself. The lightning, the thunder, the dangerous hound, and cryptic tales of disaster. It scared her.

But then there was a bright white light. It took a moment for Satori to realize it was real and coming from Fennekin. Everyone, including the Absol, turned to look at it. Her entire body lit up white and began to morph. Satori sat back in awe as her little Fennekin's body morphed and grew under the light.

The light faded to reveal Fennekin's new form. It stood up on two legs and its tail had grown long and bushier.

_Master, look, I've evolved! _Its thoughts were very happy, and it warmed the fear that Satori was feeling.

Satori looked at Braixen, who was most pleased with her new form. Satori was a tinge sad to lose her cute fox-like companion, but if it was happy then she was happy.

_Your Braixen loves you very much, it seems. _The cold thoughts of Absol entered Satori's head once again. _And you can understand me, inhuman girl. If you would permit it, I would like to accompany you._

"R-Really?" Satori asked, turning back to the Absol. It nodded, and Satori slowly pulled out an empty pokeball. She held it out, and then gently tossed it onto the Absol. It made contact with its skin, and the pokeball worked its magic and took the Absol inside of it.

It felt like she was forgetting something, but Satori just went on ahead and plugged the pokedex into the ball to scan it in more detail. It was while she was doing this that Calem walked over to her.

"Satori, you..." Calem spoke slowly and Satori looked up from the stats on her Pokedex. "You...did you _speak _with that Absol?"

Satori froze for a moment, but ultimately nodded. "Yes, we spoke." She had forgotten he witnessed that. "She said that some sort of disaster is coming, something really bad. But she didn't know what." Satori then ejected the pokeball from the pokedex and tossed it out, summoning the Absol back. Its fur seemed less wet and glistened in the light of the fire.

_Hello again, mistress. _The Absol said, and then went over to lay down by the fire.

"But how?" Calem asked. "How did you speak with her?"

Satori averted her eyes. "You already know the answer to that."

"I already—?" Calem's eyes widened. "No way, you really are a...a youkai?"

"It's kind of obvious, isn't it?" Satori lightly stroked her Third Eye and twirled the tendrils among her fingers. She sat down on a dry rock and looked at the fire.

"But you're so human-like."

Satori nodded. "Most are."

Calem sat down as well. "Jesus Satori, I can't do this. I just, I can't—"

"Sleep on it." Satori said. "At least give me that much."

The silence lasted awhile.

"I'm going to bed." Satori finally said. "Fen, ah, I mean Braixen, can you please keep up the fire?"

_Gladly, master. Will you let me sleep through the day tomorrow?_

"Of course. Thanks for the hard work." Satori retreated into the tent and quickly fell asleep as the rain fell from the sky above. It rained throughout the night.

When Satori awoke the next morning, it was still pounding rain down onto the tent. There were no signs of the relentless downpour ending. Satori pulled back the entrance of the tent and saw her Braixen tending the fire right where she had left it the night previous. Absol was there by the fire too, although she was fast asleep.

_Good morning, master._

Satori nodded to the Braixen. "Please tend to it for a little longer, you can sleep to your heart's content once Calem and I get moving." The Braixen nodded in understanding and kept the fire burning.

_Master, are you okay? How is your companion going to take the news of what you told him last night?_

"If he's like everyone else he'll run away and hate me."

_I hope that doesn't happen._

Satori didn't respond, and started to make breakfast. Calem came out from the tent just as she was about to take her first bite. She was hesitant to say anything, but forced out a simple "good morning" before returning to her food.

"Morning," he said in a grunt and sat down next to the fire. They ate breakfast in silence, and then packed their things in silence for the next day through the pouring rain. Braixen and Absol were returned to their pokeballs and they were all ready to continue on the route.

"It makes a lot of sense," Calem said before they started off. Satori looked inquisitively. "Everyone knew you and Rin lived with that crow youkai, and we all suspected of course. But we never knew one way or the other. Wait, is Rin—"

"Yes," Satori said.

"Ahaha...oh man..." The laugh was pathetic, and Calem trailed off into a brief silence before he spoke again. "Satori, you have to leave."

"What?"

"You're dangerous," Calem said. "Your kind, 'youkai,' they _eat _people. How could you possibly expect me to travel with you? Or let you travel with my friends?"

Satori didn't respond. She couldn't, after all, since Calem was right. While Satori specifically didn't need to eat humans to survive, it would be a lie to say she had _never _eaten it. The world used to be a different place, and she is very old.

"I'll accompany you to Ambrette," Calem said. "But then we should part ways."

And with that they moved on through the downpour, the weather reflecting the state of the minds of each of the trainers desperately running through it.

Today was even worse than the day before. The weather was about the same, but the mood between the travelers had turned from neutral to critically bad. Calem was afraid to get too close to Satori and she could tell he was distracted by the thought that she would just turn right around and start nibbling on his arm.

Satori would have done it to tease him under other circumstances. But she had enough common sense to realize it wasn't a good time.

The path ahead forced them out of their thoughts. Satori was hesitant to speak since she and Calem hadn't spoken a word since this morning, but she had no other choice. "Calem," she said, "do you know the best way cross this point?"

He shook his head. Satori sighed, and looked out at what lay ahead of them. There was a sloping path covered by rocks of all sizes. It would be dangerous enough on its own, one slip off a rock and you could keep tumbling down the slope to the base of the cliffs. But it was raining. Those rocks would be slippery. All it would take is one missed foothold.

"Take out Absol." Calem said. _She probably can navigate it most safely._

Satori pulled out the pokeball and summoned the Absol she had just caught earlier. It looked around as it was summoned, getting a sense for its surroundings. Like it had that night, the rain simply seemed to glide off her fur.

_What do you require of me, mistress? _The Absol asked.

Satori pointed towards the rocks. "We need to traverse that, Absol. Do you think you can help us not, well, die?"

_I know these parts well, I will do my best to guide you safely mistress. _Absol stepped forward with purpose and leaped to a large, flat rock not too far away. It was a kind of obvious first move, but having Absol confirm it helped.

Satori and Calem had nothing else to do but follow, and they did so as carefully as they could. It was just a small jump to the flat rock. Calem went first and had no trouble. Satori followed with similar ease, and was surprised to find the rocks weren't as slippery as they looked. The rocks were rough and uneven. Maybe Satori would have disliked it in any other situation for being uncomfortable, but right now it was a godsend.

_I guess if they let trainers travel it it wouldn't be _too _dangerous, _thought Calem. Satori didn't quite share his sentiment, the terrain looked plenty dangerous to her.

They followed this pattern for awhile. Absol jumping to the next rock, testing it a bit, and allowing Satori and Calem to jump behind it. She would give Satori a few tips as well, the best place to jump and so fourth. Satori passed this information onto Calem, but each time she could tell he was reminded he was with a youkai.

They were almost to the end of the sloping area and Satori could see where the path flattened out again a little ways ahead. Just in time too, the sky was darkening and the sun fell beneath the horizon. Calem pulled out the flashlight for the last few rocks, and finally they reached the end. Safe.

Satori's heart was beating hard in her chest. They had actually did it.

But their victory would be short-lived, because they were still soaking wet and unlike last night there was no good place to make shelter. The best they could do was a small group of trees, but it only held the rain partially at bay. They had nothing better, so they pitched the tent over the muddy, grassy ground.

They then summoned their two fire pokemon, Braixen and Fletchling, to heat up the area. The two fire pokemon worked hard to heat the interior of the tent and dry the ground so the trainers could lay their bedrolls. The pokemon also helped dry their clothes, and before long they were ready to sleep. It was not comfortable at all, but it would have to do.

Calem fell asleep quickly and Satori desperately wanted to join him. But she sat up from her bedroll, staring at the back of his head. He had recalled Fletchling at her request, so only Braixen would be keeping them warm and safe.

But Satori stared at Calem with regret. She had messed up. She should have never told him the truth about her. She had thought it over during the day and decided the previous night had been a fluke. She was tired and afraid of Absol's appearance and had done her best to protect herself. A consequence of that was Calem finding out the true nature of her ability.

A mistake.

Unless she corrected it.

Braixen looked up at her suddenly. _Master, what are you doing?_ Satori had shifted in her seat and faced Calem, the tendrils of her Third Eye twisting around her body.

"Giving myself a do-over..." She whispered nearly inaudibly. The Third Eye flared up, and Calem started shaking uncontrollably. A second later he ceased and resumed his slow breathing as if nothing had happened whatsoever.

_Master, what did you do to Calem? _Braixen was pleading at this point. Absol just looked on with a cold gaze, her thoughts neutral. Satori looked down at the sleeping figure of Calem.

Induced amnesia.

Satori was as her name implied, a mind-reader. But her true nature was beyond that, she was a trauma manipulator. The minds of men were her playground, and she could toy with it however she liked. She can drag the most traumatic experiences right to the surface of the mind, or she could erase them forever.

Whatever was at play that ran her ability, Satori was thankful Calem's experience counted as a 'trauma.' He would not remember the past two days. At all. Her ability was imperfect, the mind was a very complex thing. But she could erase the trauma and events connected to that would be caught in the crossfire. Enough to erase two days.

And then she rested.

Morning came, but the weather still did not let up. Satori was shaken awake by Calem. "Satori, something's wrong."

"Hmmpghpfs?" Was Satori's inelegant response. She was still in the process of waking up.

"Where...? Were are we? Weren't we in the cave?"

Satori feigned confusion for a moment before responding. "Calem, you hit your head yesterday on the rocks. You seemed fine when we went to bed."

"I can't remember any of that! How far are we to Ambrette?"

"Three days I think. I can show you on the map." They brought out the map and Satori pointed to their location. "I think we should get you to a doctor."

Satori saw Braixen glare at her in the corner of her eye. _Master, you're lying to him so openly. This isn't right, I didn't even realize you had the power to do that sort of thing._

Satori and Calem packed their things, Calem much more receiving of aid than he was the previous day. Satori helped him along, but during the entire time Braixen lectured her and there wasn't a thing she could do to stop her.

_Master, really, _she went on. _You shouldn't deprive anyone of their memories, especially of something as important as a Pokemon journey. You're robbing him of a chance to grow, to be a better and bigger person._

Satori really wanted to argue back, but she couldn't without giving herself away to Calem went on, but eventually she lost steam and went back into her Pokeball.

The next leg of the journey wasn't too bad, although the rain still dampened their moods. Calem seemed very troubled by his amnesia, but at least it was no longer directed towards Satori.

They reached a large dip in the terrain a few days later, like a basin, with hundreds of stone pillars arising from the bottom. It looked tempting to jump across the pillars like in a video game, but any sane person would climb down to the base and just walk across the bottom.

But it was raining, and the bottom was flooded.

"How deep do you think it is?" Calem asked. Satori just shrugged in response. There was no way to tell from their vantage point.

_Mistress, if I may, _Absol said. Before she could respond, the Absol began climbing down the side of the basin in a series of leaps. It reached the bottom and jumped into the water. It was about two feet deep, something they could easily wade through.

"Since when did you have an Absol?" Calem asked.

"Just a few days ago. It was during the time you, well, forgot."

"Oh..." Calem looked down. He was nervous about his health, understandably. "Well, let's climb down."

It wasn't difficult to wade through the water, but it was uncomfortable. Not that that was new or anything. Satori and Calem made it through and climbed out the other side with no trouble. A few hours later they finally saw a town off in the distance.

"Ambrette!" They both said at the same time. They rushed into the town and couldn't wait to take a real shower and sleep in a real bed. They hurried to the Pokemon center as quickly as they could muster, got their own separate rooms and agreed to meet up in the morning.

When Satori got into her room, she let out all of her Pokemon into the room and went to the washroom to take a long, hot shower. After she was done and feeling very refreshed, she washed Braixen and Absol.

_Master..._ Braixen was going to start up the scolding again, but now Calem wasn't in earshot so Satori could respond.

"Braixen, please..." Satori said. "I've been listening."

_I just want you to understand what you did. That's not right, master._

"You're right." Satori tied a towel around her while Braixen dried herself off with her heat. "It probably wasn't the 'just' thing to do, but I did it anyways."

_If you think it wasn't right then why did you do it?_

"I—" Satori looked down at her Eye. "I don't really know. I just didn't want to lose him, not like that."

_People don't get do-overs, master._

"I'm not 'people' Braixen." Satori finished drying off and walked into the bedroom. "Do you too hate me because of what I do? I can read minds, erase them, toy with them."

_Of course not. _Braixen hopped up onto a desk to get at eye-level with Satori. _I'll always follow you, master. But just because you can do something doesn't mean you should._

"Thanks, Braixen."

_I guess I'll stop pestering you, sorry._

"It's fine." Satori smiled and climbed into bed. "Good night, everyone," she said, and fell asleep among her three pokemon.

Morning didn't bring sunshine. In fact, the weather report had updated to show that the rain would continue for at least another three days. The weatherman on television didn't seem too surprised though, so Satori figured it was probably typical for this region. The first thing she did after getting dressed was head to the hotel lobby and buy an umbrella.

Calem had done the exact same thing, holding the newly-purchased umbrella in his hand. He nodded when Satori approached "You want to explore Ambrette?" He asked.

"Did you go see a doctor?" Satori could imagine Braixen's disapproving gaze at her continued lie.

"Yeah." Calem sighed. "He said that nobody really knows how to fix or cure amnesia, sometimes it comes back on its own and sometimes it doesn't. He said I'm perfectly healthy though otherwise."

"Oh."

"So anyways, there's an—"

"Aquarium and a museum. You want to go to the museum for fossils and to learn about mega evolution. I assume."

Calem nodded and led the way to the museum. The town was pretty small and it wasn't hard to find, although the museum itself was similarly small. They were the only people in there, and the exhibits didn't take up that much room. There was a main floor and a few side floors. There were a couple of people in white labcoats as well.

"Excuse me," Calem said to one of the employees. He was standing behind a desk and looked to be a sort of clerk, although he work a labcoat like a researcher. "We have some questions."

The clerk seemed to be excited that someone actually took an interest in his field of study. "Yes yes, please, what can I help you with?"

"Can you tell us about Pokemon fossils? I heard some rumors but is it true you can bring them back?"

The researcher had a glint in his eye. "A great question, boy. It seems too unreal to be true, doesn't it? But I can attest to the fact that it _is _possible. We're able to bring to life a Pokemon from its fossil. The technology behind it is very similar to how Pokeballs capture and store pokemon, as well as how the PC operates.

"Essentially, we use the fossils of deceased Pokemon to create a map of what that Pokemon's biology would have looked like in the era in which it lived. From there we can extrapolate its organs and tissue, creating a perfect representation of the Pokemon. This was no easy feat to discover and took decades of research.

"This map is then ported into a pokeball through a special machine, which allows you to summon the pokemon into the real world. Amazing, isn't it?"

Satori raised her hand as if she was a schoolgirl. "Sir, if that's true can't you just copy the map and create however many of these fossilized Pokemon as you want?"

"Oh ho ho, another fantastic question. The simple answer is that it's against the law to copy digitized pokemon."

"Wait," Calem said. "You're saying it's _possible? _To just copy pokemon?"

The professor nodded. "Pokemon are uploaded into a PC every day. Of course it's possible. But again, that's illegal. That isn't really my field of study, you'd have to talk to someone researching artificial intelligence. I'm more of an archeologist."

Calem and Satori took a moment to process the man's lecture. Seemed kind of absurd.

It was Calem who spoke first. "So, professor, if I found a fossil could you make a Pokemon out of it?"

The man nodded. "Yup. The process takes awhile though, about two weeks to a month. The service is free of charge. Our payment is the knowledge we gleam from every new resurrection."

"What about mega evolution? Can you tell us about mega evolution?"

Although the man had been happily recounting his knowledge, at this question he looked a bit down. "Sorry, we really don't know much. It's funny you should mention that though, I got a Holo Cast from a colleague yesterday. He's at the Glittering Cave. He says he found what he thinks is a mega stone, and a couple of other fossils. You could try asking him."

"Thanks," Calem said. "We'll do that."

"Any time. Feel free to come back if you have more questions about fossils." The man said energetically.

The path to get to the Glittering Cave was not traversable by human beings, apparently. Route Nine, as it was so called, was covered in sharp stones that had resisted all attempts to pave over them. The preferred method of transport was on the backs of Rhyhorns.

Satori didn't find the experience unpleasant, it was like sitting on top of a large moving rock. A few pokemon had tried to attack while she and Calem rode, but usually the Rhyhorn just pounded them and went on about its day.

It was not more than two hours to the cave, and she and Calem hopped off onto the platform next to the cave entrance. There was a large man there who gave them a wave, but he was just another traveler like them. The Glittering Cave gave no indication access was restricted, so Calem and Satori rushed in to get out of the rain. Their umbrellas did their job, but they weren't perfect.

The cave seemed a bit complicated at first glance, but Satori and Calem quickly learned the trick to navigating it. Before long they found themselves in a large chamber. Calem and Satori waltzed through it for a small while, admiring the sight. The cave walls were lined with shining crystals and gems, clearly the source of the cave's name. Satori couldn't help but think how much value they would have if they were mined out.

Their walk didn't last long before they were stopped by two figures, a man and a woman, wearing the most atrocious, flamboyant outfits she had ever seen. They both had bright orange leather coats and pants, with bright orange sunglasses that could not have been functional in any way.

"You two, stop." The male commanded. "This area is under the authority of Team Flare. No trespassers." _Last thing we need is for two little kids walking in on our plans..._

"You say that like you believe it," Satori said.

"W-What did you say to me you little brat?"

"You're pretty worried the police are going to show up at any moment, aren't you?" Satori held out her arms in an extended shrug. "Ah~ah. They could come around the corner at any moment, the boss is throwing us to the wolves in here~" Satori paused. "Right?"

Instead of responding the man brought his fingers to his mouth and whistled. It echoed throughout the cave, and a few seconds later two more people in similar outfits showed up from around the corner. The Team Flare grunt looked mighty arrogant now that he had the upper hand in numbers. "You're going to regret saying those words, girl."

At his words, each of the grunts tossed out one or two pokeballs. A grand total of six pokemon appeared all looking ready to attack. Calem gave Satori a look that conveyed just how pissed he was Satori got him into this mess.

"H-Hey, that's not regulation," he protested. But his protests were lost in the noise of Satori tossing out all three of her Pokeballs at once. Pikachu, Braixen and Absol appeared and took note of the situation immediately.

"I think we're well past regulation," Satori said to Calem, although the Flare members could hear it. "This one's for real." At her words, her three pokemon tensed up.

Calem got the message and tossed out three of his own. Frogadier, Fletchinder and a small cat-like pokemon that Satori didn't recognize. She noted the new addition and the evolution of Fletchling—had Calem gone out and trained on his own before Satori woke up this morning?

Just like that, the battlefield was leveled. The tensions were high, and all at once the Pokemon ran towards each other and began to battle. It was chaotic, and even with her ability Satori couldn't keep track of it all. Regular pokemon battles were one at a time, but right now it was little more than a brawl.

Satori had only seen Absol battle once, when she faced off against it on the night Calem would never remember. But she quickly realized it wasn't giving it its all that night, because right now Absol was terrifying. She was engaged with the Houndour and was superior to it in nearly every way. They were similar to two dogs fighting, but Absol moved with such grace and finesse the Houndour couldn't land a hit. Then Absol would move in with a devastating swipe.

After the Houndour looked sufficiently weakened, Satori gave her first command. "Absol, target the trainer!" She shouted it as loud as she could with as much malice as she could muster in the heat of the battle.

Absol processed the command immediately, and leaped away from the Pokemon fray towards one of the Team Flare grunts. He recoiled in surprise, but was no match for Absol. She opened her jaw wide and bit into the grunt's arm, tackling him to the ground. Absol thrashed her head and even in the heat of the battle the sound of the man's bones cracking could be heard.

Satori didn't need to say anything else, Absol moved off the downed trainer and attacked the next one. She was quick on the uptake, and her Croagunk ran to interfere. But Satori was on full offense.

"Braixen!"

Braixen rushed towards the trainer who had foolishly turned her back to the fire fox. Braixen's entire body erupted into flame and hit the trainer, smashing her to the walls of the cavern. Several ribs would have broken for sure and her hair was singed, although her suit seemed to be flame retardant.

The others got the message, and quickly fled past Satori and Calem out of the cavern. They left their pokemon behind, but at the sight of their fleeing masters they followed. The two injured limped away after them, and Calem and Satori didn't bother to stop them.

After they had left, Calem started yelling.

"SATORI, YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

"Do what, exactly?"

"You had Absol attack the _trainer._" Calem said loudly. "Pokemon are really dangerous, you can't sick them on people. You could go to jail for the rest of your life for that."

"Did you not grasp the situation? We weren't playing a game there, Calem." Satori said annoyed. "Those guys were up to something seriously not good, and would have done the same to us. It was self-defense."

Calem backed down. It was strange, he usually didn't back down from arguments with Satori. "Dammit. Dammit dammit dammit." He cursed. "You're right, I'm sorry, I'm just...I mean, I never..."

"—Thought you'd have to defend yourself for real." Satori finished his thought for him. He nodded.

"You still started it though."

She just rolled her eyes. At this point Absol walked up to them. She had blood over her mouth, which did not alleviate Calem's worry. Satori ignored him and bent down and brought a tissue to wipe Absol's mouth.

_Mistress, was that sufficient?_

"That was excellent, Absol. Thank you. You attacked so quickly they didn't have time to attack me back. I was completely open."

_I was aware, mistress, which is why I was so ruthless._

Braixen and Pikachu trotted up as well. _I had ya' covered, boss, _said the Pikachu. _That Croagunk was probably going to try something, but its trainer pulled it back before I could defend you from it. What a wuss. _Satori laughed and pat the Pikachu a few times on the head.

"I don't think we've seen the last of them," Calem remarked solemnly. Satori was forced to agree, but for now they scared them off. They could contact the authorities later.

In other news, the researcher managed to stay alive. In fact, he was better than ever. When Calem asked him if he was okay and if Team Flare hurt him, he responded with "Team who?" Then he proceeded to describe how he had been here in his little nook for the past fifteen hours and didn't realize other people were in the cave.

Satori was going to speak, but before she could Absol walked out ahead of her towards the researcher. Absol was careful with her steps and when she got close he laid down and pointed his nose towards the ground. Satori realized that the researcher, and now Absol, were standing amidst several bones.

The researcher looked a bit down seeing Absol. "You...maybe shouldn't have brought your Absol here..." he said slowly. Satori looked at Absol and felt her sadness, although her thoughts were not coherent.

"Why, what's wrong?" Calem asked.

"These are Absol bones," the man explained pointing towards the bones. "Some sort of event happened her ages ago that caused the deaths of several Absol. Your own Pokemon seems to be aware of this."

Satori and Calem were saddened at the news, and let Absol continue with her mourning. She picked herself up after a minute and retreated back next to Satori. _Forgive my rudeness, mistress._ Satori just shook her head and drew the Absol into a hug.

"It's okay, girl."

After a brief moment the researcher looked up from his excavation. "In any case you two, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Ah, right," Calem said. "We talked to a guy over at the museum who said you found a mega stone? We're trying to learn more about them."

"Oh ho ho, yes indeed." The man looked a bit brighter and tip-toed out of the excavation area. Once clear he waltzed over to a small worktable and picked a glittering stone off it. "I found this among the site right there," he explained. "I haven't been able to run any analysis on it, but would you like to hear my current hypothesis?"

"Sure."

"Excellent. You see, I found this mega stone among the remains of these Absol. I suspect that the stone will somehow be _related _to Absol in some way. Most of the mega stones we have found so far have been at sites like this. Unnatural deaths of Pokemon that were far from dying of natural causes. _I _suspect that when a Pokemon is in serious danger, it can go above and beyond its normal capabilities and mega evolve."

Calem spoke before Satori had time to be suitably impressed. "But that's just your own suspicion?" He asked.

The man nodded. "The hypothesis is in proper circulation, but the honest truth is there are not many mega stones. I think we've only uncovered, well, eight or nine? They're usually handed off to trainers. Regretfully we can't actually learn a whole lot just putting the stones under a microscope."

Satori looked down at her Absol. Her movements were still a bit muted and Satori could feel she was still sad. Satori looked back up to the researcher. "Can I have it?"

"Hmm?"

"The stone. You said you pass off the stones to trainers, so I would like it."

The researcher chuckled a bit which Satori didn't like, but she didn't say anything. "You're pretty eager," he said. "I don't think it will be a problem, but it will take about a week or so to run the stone through the standard tests, catalog it and get it verified. After that, I'll easily hand it off. Well, there will be paperwork, so maybe not easy."

The man rambled on a bit before Satori and Calem decided to head back to Ambrette. The researcher came with them, his work mostly complete for the day. They rode the Rhyhorns back to Ambrette in the rain, but the umbrellas kept the worst off.

They parted ways with the researcher at the museum. The two trainers headed to the police station instead to report what happened. Every town had one, although Ambrette's was little more than a small kiosk.

There was a pleasant-looking woman sitting inside flipping through a magazine, although when she realized the two kids were actually approaching her she put it away. "Hello," she said warmly. "I'm Officer Jenny. What can I do for you two?"

"We were attacked earlier today," Calem said. There was no real point in lying.

The officer turned serious very quickly. "Please, tell me what happened." The officer opened the door to the kiosk and invited the two children in. There were a couple of chairs inside they could sit on, but it was far from spacious.

Calem did most of the talking, Satori only filling in details she found relevant that Calem had overlooked. The officer listened intently as the two explained everything, and when they were finished she breathed a sigh of somewhat relief.

"I'm glad you two are okay. It seems like you were more than capable of defending yourselves, but the smart thing to do would have been to run away and come here first before antagonizing them. That sort of thing is what we're here for."

"Sorry, ma'am."

"In any case, Team Flare has been on our watch list for quite a while. They've been stirring up trouble here and there but there doesn't seem to be a reason to their actions. For now we're content with calling them a terrorist organization, but there's a few theories going around that they're actually up to something big.

"If you run into them again, please don't try to fight them. From your story it sounds like you took care of them fairly easily, but others in their organization pose a serious threat."

The kids nodded in agreement, and the officer offered them some donuts as comfort food. They both took her up on her offer, and left the kiosk feeling much better. Satori hadn't really planned on going to the authorities, but Calem insisted.

Satori had to admit he was right. She _did _feel better.

Unfortunately, now with everything squared away Satori and Calem had quite a lot of time to kill. The mega stone would take a week to get ready and Calem would have to wait up to _four _for his fossilized pokemon.

They fell into a pretty solid routine of training their pokemon during the day, and to their sheer and utter joy the sun broke through the rainclouds.

After a week, just as the researcher said Satori found herself holding a white and blue polished stone. Absolite. She didn't know what to _do _with it, but her Absol seemed attached to it so it clearly had some sort of interesting properties. Then again, that was the point of the investigation.

Satori didn't have an interest in sticking around for another three weeks while Calem waited on his fossil, so they parted ways in the aquarium. The route to Cyllage was a very easy walk along the beach, so Satori wasn't worried. It was nice. Satori didn't really enjoy interacting with other people all that much, she usually left conversations more stressed out than when she entered them.

Cyllage was interesting. It was clear where the town derived its name from, it was entirely centered around bicycles. A massive bicycle path circled around the entire town, climbing up the mountain Satori had been atop of just a few weeks prior. Hundreds of people were cycling, far outnumbering the simple pedestrians walking from building to building.

"I don't like it here."

Since she didn't have much of an interest in a bicycle, Satori couldn't help but feel a little out of place. She was unsure if Shauna and the others would still be here, but it wasn't at the forefront of Satori's mind. She wandered around the town a little bit, but besides cycling there wasn't much to do.

Besides the gym, of course. With nowhere else to turn, Satori ultimately found herself heading to the local gym. Satori had every intention of going all out, and without an audience there would be no one to get upset at her actions. Well, besides her opponent.

When Satori entered the gym, her look immediately soured. The gym was set in a massive cavern in the side of the mountain, and in the center was a massive rock-climbing wall. There were numerous ledges, and Satori could see people training and climbing. It wasn't hard to figure out what was waiting at the top—the leader.

Unfit isn't the best word to describe Satori, but she doesn't exactly _enjoy_ being active. Rock climbing, cycling, roller blading. Just doesn't do it for her. But she doesn't have a choice for this gym, she's going to have to climb that wall. There were mats laid down so no one would be seriously injured if they fell, but other than that there were no restraint or safety devices. If she let go, she'd fall.

The first section wasn't too bad though, there were numerous handholds at she skittered up it in just a minute or two. But she had a long way to go.

She walked around a short pathway and passed by a man resting. He gave her a wave, but otherwise didn't hinder her progress. An unwritten rule was that if a trainer was gunning for the leader, the others in the gym would leave them alone. Going off against a gym leader required one to be at full strength. So no one bothered Satori as she ascended up the mountain.

The higher Satori got, the more difficult the climb was. And that wasn't just because she became tired, the handholds thinned out and Satori had to make a few jumps she was hardly comfortable making. This didn't always work, and she fell a couple times. But the wall was in sections, so even a fall only lost ten or twenty feet of progress.

After what was probably an hour, much longer than Satori had anticipated, she reached the final handhold and dragged herself to the top of the spire. She didn't even bother to look around at her surroundings at first, she just tried to catch her breath.

When she finally looked up, she saw a man standing on the other side, arms crossed with a smile on his face. He had dark skin and black hair, and his outfit was in shades of gray. It looked more functional than fashionable.

"Welcome to the top," he said cheerfully. "Did you want to challenge me, or were you just challenging _yourself_?"

Satori was still taking deep breaths. "Both, I guess." She said between huffs. It was the answer he wanted to hear, which is why she said it. She didn't admit she would have rather not climbed up a damn mountain to battle.

The man laughed, but gave Satori as long as she needed to prepare herself. A few people near the top of the gym noticed the imminent leader challenge though, and started to watch. She ignored them to the best of her ability.

Satori finally got herself together and stood up to face the leader. But it occurred to her she didn't even know his name. "Excuse me," she said sheepishly. "Sorry, what's your name?"

"Grant," he said. "Yours?"

"Satori."

He looked surprised. "Satori? Aren't you the girl who made Vi cry?"

She frowned. "I hope that's not what I become famous for."

"It was a pretty low blow."

"That's what I do." Satori shrugged. "Trainers are usually the weakest link in a battle, so it only makes sense to target them."

Grant smiled, a response Satori didn't predict. "You might consider phrasing that, 'trainers are as much a part of the battle as the pokemon are.'"

"That _is _better."

"I'm surprised you already know that lesson. Most people don't figure it out until they go to the Anistar gym."

Grant pulled out the roster he would use for the battle. There were only two pokeballs on it, compared to Satori's three. As far as she knew each trainer was allowed to use as many Pokemon as they wanted, but it felt kind of unfair that she had more than him.

Satori tried reading Grant's thoughts to figure out what Pokemon he would toss first, but it wasn't helpful. She got the name, but she didn't _recognize _it. So Satori just chose to go with Pikachu first. They both tossed out their Pokemon, and the battle was on.

Grant's first pokemon was Amaura, what the Pokedex identified as the "tundra pokemon." It apparently lives in cold climates, and it wasn't a leap for Satori deduce it was an ice type. Braixen would have been a better choice, but Pikachu at least won't be at a disadvantage.

Pikachu darted out before Satori could give him commands, and went to slam the Amaura. It connected, but the Amaura didn't look any worse for wear and retaliated in kind. However, Amaura was slow and therefore it was easy for Satori to predict its movements and relay them to her Pikachu.

Amaura and Grant quickly stopped with the physical confrontation, the quicker Pikachu was too good at dodging attacks. Especially with Satori's insight. Amaura's next attack was a strange, colorful beam that Grant identified as _Aurora Beam. _It weakened Pikachu, but Satori still felt she had the upper hand.

"Amaura, take down!" Grant shouted suddenly. Amaura, hearing the command, came straight after the Pikachu leaving its entire guard down. A foolish move.

"Pikachu, attack," Satori shouted in response. The two Pokemon collided and kicked up some dust from the arena. To Satori's dismay, Pikachu looked down for the count.

_O...Ouch..._ It was still conscious, but barely. He had gotten a good scratch on Amaura, but the force of its attack was too great. Satori recalled the Pikachu and sent out Braixen.

Grant audibly sighed, and Satori laughed. Braixen took down the weakened Amaura with a single ember attack. Satori felt she still had the advantage, although Grant didn't seem worried. He summoned his next and final Pokemon. It was short and tough-looking with a massive jaw. Tyrunt.

"Braixen, flame charge." Satori commanded. The Braixen obeyed and rammed into the Tyrunt, but it didn't even seem to notice the attack. Grant shouted something and quickly Braixen was on the defensive.

The Tyrunt charged towards Braixen, opening its massive jaw and biting down. It caught Braixen around the waist like a large piece of meat, and started thrashing. Satori watched in horror at the attack and Braixen's thoughts were frightening. Satori held out a Pokeball and recalled Braixen as quick as she could.

One left. Satori knew that Absol was probably the strongest of her roster, but she was also the newest. They didn't have quite the connection with each other that Satori had with Braixen and Pikachu. So Satori looked to enhance her advantage.

She threw out Absol, but her first command was to buy time and watch the Tyrunt's movements. Meanwhile, Satori directed her attention to Grant. In Satori's first gym battle Viola hadn't needed any serious prodding, but Grant was preparing for anything Satori would say. So she wouldn't say anything, she'd just go out in full.

_Absol, huh, that might be tricky if it's well trained. Perhaps I can... _No, she had to go deeper. _I'll win this for sure. _Not that useful, deeper. _Have to be on top. Number one. Striving higher. _Satori was getting close. Grant was focused on climbing higher and bettering himself. Not unusual, but why? _Have to. _Why? _To better myself. _It was circular.

Tyrunt lunged towards Absol, but she was quick on her feet and hopped back. The arena was limited in size, and too many retreating steps could get a pokemon up against the edge of the spire. But Satori didn't pay attention, hopefully Absol knew enough about avoiding that situation since she lived on the cliffside.

Grant's trauma was light. It was a shame, but not everyone went through terrible ordeals. Satori had actually been somewhat lucky with Viola. That she had lost a Pokemon in the worst way possible was easy to exploit. But Grant hadn't lost anyone. His desire was to rise higher. His reason: he had none. _That _was his trauma. No motivation behind his strive for excellence, he just did it.

Satori didn't hesitate in pulling it up from the depths of his mind. At the same moment, she shouted out towards Absol to go on the offensive.

Her maneuver was effective, but only briefly. Satori scanned Grant's thoughts as she made him face his trauma, but was displeased with the results. _Why am I trying to win this battle...this girl hurt Vi...It's my job to be a challenge for people like her..._ He was quick with rationalizations, the bane of Satori's ability.

But the momentary distraction choked Grant's commands by a second, which allowed Absol to get a clean hit on Tyrunt. Absol was a heavy hitter, and did serious damage to the little dinosaur-like Pokemon. There was no type advantage or disadvantage to be had, but Absol didn't need it.

Satori's ability would be of no more use, some people were just too damn secure with themselves to be broken. Satori directed her Third Eye back to Tyrunt and tried to read its own instinctive thoughts to better direct Absol. Absol was quicker than Tyrunt, but not very hardy. If Tyrunt got its jaws around Absol, then Satori knew it was as good as over just as it had been with Braixen.

The battle grew a bit boring. There was a lot of jumping forward and back, Absol not daring to get too close and Satori not giving any commands when it was safe or not. Grant also had the same problem, his pokemon was slow and if it went on the offensive Absol might take advantage of the decrease in defense.

Whoever hit first would win.

Satori thought of what to do, but nothing came to mind. She felt helpless again, it was in the hands of her Pokemon now. She couldn't think of a weakness in Grant to exploit, there was nothing to do. She just watched as the Absol and Tyrunt faced each other down. They weren't nearly as fast as Pikachu or Frogadier, but it was still quicker than Satori could react.

It had taken less than a second for Tyrunt to get Absol in its jaws.

She had lost.


	4. Cliff 3

_Satori in Kalos_

**Chapter 4  
><strong>**Cliff 3**

The rules for retrying a gym battle were as follows: Upon the first loss, the trainer can face the leader again after seven days have passed. If the trainer lost again, they would have to wait thirty days before they could try again. If they lost after _that, _they would have to wait another thirty days and so on and so fourth. Satori had learned this from the portly man who stood by the gym entrance. He had told her that most people never bothered to try again after the third loss, and they mostly gave up on collecting all the badges.

He then gave some words of encouragement. It's actually more common for people to fail the first time and win the second time, after they knew what they were up against. Satori didn't feel like giving up, but she didn't really know what to do. What gave her her edge wasn't effective against Grant. She would have to face him normally.

Well, she could still read his Pokemon's movements, but it was hardly effective. Her battle had come down to a matter of _speed, _in the end. That sort of situation she couldn't handle.

"So, ideas?" Satori asked. She sat on a bench a ten minute walk north of Cyllage, her three Pokemon resting around her. Absol laid down at her feet, Braixen sat on her left and Pikachu on her right. Satori was scratching Pikachu behind his ear, and his happiness spilled over into Satori's own mind. It relieved her a bit from her loss at Grant's hands.

_Obviously I should go out against Amaura, _Braixen said. _Ice against fire? No question._ No one debated the fox, who ruffled her tail a bit and generated a few sparks.

"Right." Satori said. "While that decision alone will put us at more of an advantage than yesterday, I'm not sure it'll be enough. Braixen can't help much against Tyrunt."

_I never got to see this Tyrunt, _Pikachu said. _It can't be that strong, you guys are just wusses._

Satori shifted her grip on Pikachu's neck and shoved his face into the bench. "Don't be an ass," she commanded. Pikachu grumbled an insincere apology, but it was good enough.

_Mistress, forgive me for letting it get the upper hand on me. _Satori looked down, and saw the expression on Absol's face. Out of her three Pokemon, Absol seemed the most sorry. It was also the most submissive towards Satori, and Satori had no idea why. She _liked _it, there was no doubt about that. But it worried her that it had been so easy with Absol. At least with Pikachu she had to work to get him to obey.

"Let's go for a walk," Satori said and stood up. Her three Pokemon followed her as she looped around the field of flowers. She didn't want to go too far into the next route since she wasn't done with Cyllage, but she had to get away from the city.

Cyllage City was busy. Busier than Lumiose, even. While Lumiose was huge, it was still a normal city with people going about their normal lives. But in Cyllage everyone was out and about, exercising, cycling, roller blading, and a lot more. Satori had a tough time in that sort of environment.

It's not that the people bothered her, it was their thoughts. Her ability was not something she could just turn off. In such a place, she was forced to hear so many thoughts that she couldn't even hear herself think. It made her uncomfortable and gave her migraines. She much preferred more quiet, rural areas. And this route seemed very nice. The activity of Cyllage ceased almost immediately once she went past the city's borders.

"Don't worry about having failed, Absol. We all did." Satori said. "What we need to do is come up with a strategy for next time."

_None of us are effective against Tyrunt, _Braixen said. _Neither fire nor electricity will hurt it much._

Satori leaned down and plucked a flower. She looked around for any Flabebe, but she couldn't see any. "It seems to me that all we can really do is wail on it and hope between the three of you that we can beat it."

_Can't _you _do anything, oh master? _Pikachu asked. Satori gave him a look and he backed down his aggressiveness. He had a valid point, but she didn't say so. She was somewhat ashamed that she was hindered in this regard.

Although they tossed a few more ideas around, the Pokemon couldn't really come up with anything and Satori found herself walking back to Cyllage. On her way back, she bumped into Trevor and Tierno.

"Oh, hey Satori." Tierno said. "That's a cool Pokemon, what is it?"

Satori looked down to see which one he was gesturing too. "Absol," she said. She didn't react visibly, but Satori could tell that Absol felt proud to be considered "cool." Nothing could hide from Satori's Third Eye, after all.

Tierno knelt down to pet Absol. Satori allowed it, and chuckled to herself at how Absol tried to stand proud while Tierno stroked her fur. Trevor stood standing, but he wanted to feel Absol's fur as well.

"Go ahead, she likes it." Satori said to Trevor. His face went red, but took her up on her offer anyways. "So what have you two been up to? Where's Shauna?"

"She's off trying to train her Furfrou," Tierno explained. "We're just hanging out."

_I'm _not _just hanging out... _Trevor's thoughts didn't mimic Tierno's words, but he didn't correct his friend. "What about you? What have you been up to?" He asked.

"I challenged the gym here."

"Nice," Tierno said. "How'd you do?" Satori averted her gaze and Tierno picked up on it. "Oh. Well, better luck next time eh? Don't feel bad, neither Trevvs nor I have _one _badge."

That didn't really make her feel any better. Satori continued to catch up with the others although there wasn't much to say. They met up with Shauna around evening, apparently her Furfrou training wasn't going too well.

Trevor, on the other hand, said he was focused on collecting as much data on Pokemon as he could and filling up his Pokedex. He was eager to explain more, but stopped himself out of fear that it would bore the others. Satori thought she would indulge him, albeit it was for somewhat selfish means.

"Trevor," Satori said. He looked up at her. "What can you tell me about the Pokemon Tyrunt?"

Trevor jumped at the chance to show off what he knew. He pulled out his little notebook and Pokedex and started flipping through the pages. "Tyrunt, that's the one with the giant head and massive jaw, right?" Satori confirmed and Trevor flipped to near the end of his booklet. It was well-worn, but he wasn't careful with the pages as he hurriedly flipped through them. "Ah, here we are." He said and stopped flipping. "I've been taking a lot of notes. Tyrunt is no longer found in the wild in Kalos, it can only be obtained by resurrecting it through a—"

"Fossil, yes. Something I can use, please. It's the pokemon Grant used to beat me."

"R-Really? I guess if anyone had one it would be him." Trevor scribbled something new into his notebook. Satori realized she had given him some new information. "Well, it's a hybrid rock and dragon type pokemon. Its jaw is especially deadly."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah..." Trevor gave a noncommittal response. "I have some more info here. Ummm..." He skipped over saying some of what he judged non crucial, but he still read it to himself so Satori picked up on it. _Lived one hundred million years ago, predominantly male, revived from a jaw fossil, evolves into Tyrantrum. _"Ah, er, it has a tendency to throw a tantrum if something happens that it doesn't like."

Satori raised her brow. "_That _is useful." She said, and placed her hand on Trevor's shoulder. "What sort of things would a Tyrunt not like?"

Trevor was uncomfortable with Satori's hand on his shoulder, which is mainly why she did it. He stumbled his words a bit. "W-Well, presumably things that it's type-weak against..."

That left Satori back at square one. She was about to walk away from Trevor, but he kept talking. "You don't need to deal serious damage though...just a little bit to distract the Tyrunt, right? I mean, if you're willing to eat the cost buying a TM then—"

"How would that help?"

"Well, er...I mean, Pokemon can usually use moves that are of different types than they are. It's counter-intuitive, but if a Rhydon can learn surf—"

"—then one of my pokemon can learn _something _useful. I see."

It was a brilliant scheme. Satori was depressed she didn't think of it, but it was brilliant. Pokemon _did _have the ability to learn moves not associated with their own type. It was something people rarely did as far as Satori knew, although this limited way of thinking was not completely unfounded. Pokemon are generally better able to handle attacks suited to them. There was a clever acronym Satori heard once about this phenomenon, but she had long since forgotten it.

The _point _was that Pokemon could learn moves outside of what would be expected. These were taught through a Technical Machine, which Satori had one of courtesy of Viola. It probably wouldn't be useful, but she could trade it or sell it for something she _could _use.

Satori excused herself from the group and rushed off to the Pokemon Center. In the back was a small shop, and when Satori asked the clerk about TM trading, he directed her to a computer terminal on the wall. Apparently technical machines were bought, sold and traded online. Each TM was encrypted with heavy copy protection, but it _was _just computer data. There was an official trading network and everything.

No one else was waiting for the terminal, so Satori took her time and poked around the market's features. There were a few reference links, forums and chatrooms that she explored in addition to the actual market. She tried searching for a list of what moves she could teach her Pokemon, but it wasn't very well organized. It's not like every Pokemon could learn every move, and she didn't want to waste money and time on trial and error.

She eventually just entered one of the chatrooms. She typed out a quick message and waited for a reply.

_(Sacchan) looking to teach ice move to absol/pikachu/braixen_

It didn't take very long for people to start talking, there were a good number of people in the chatroom and it was pretty active.

_(xcraigx) pikachu can't learn ice idk about others_

_(gep) not worth it no stab gtfo_

_(Wulf) Try ice beam or blizzard on Absol_

_(pikachu_lover_12) expensive. Hail is cheaper_

_(Wulf) hail not worth it on its own_

Satori didn't care to stick around for the ensuing argument over the relative advantages between ice beam, blizzard and hail used on an Absol. She wasn't really interesting in debating theory, she just needed to know what she could do. She left the chatroom and searched the market for those three moves.

She eventually decided on hail, simply because it served her purposes best. It wasn't too expensive either, although she decided to sell the TM she got from Viola anyways so she wouldn't break the bank. Satori didn't actually know _how _Absol would manage to use the move hail, but according to the people in the chatroom it could.

After all the relevant transactions were done, a TM popped out of the computer. Satori grabbed it and slid it into her pack. It looked similar to an SD card but a little bulkier. Satori left the pokemon center and left to go back out to her training area just outside of Cyllage City.

It took Satori a little while to figure out how the TM worked. Apparently you popped it into the Pokedex, connected the Pokeball to the Pokedex, and downloaded the information. Satori was in awe of the technology. It was a shame this only worked on Pokemon. Satori daydreamed a little bit about how easy life would be if she could just download skills to her brain.

The download didn't take more than a minute to complete. When Satori re-summoned Absol and asked her to use her new move, she easily obeyed. _It's like I've known how to do it for years, mistress. It's a strange feeling, _she said as the sky above turned dark and it began to hail. Satori noticed a shiver crawl up Absol's spine. _I don't like the cold, _she added.

"After this battle you probably won't have to ever use it again, Absol." Satori said.

The two of them practiced using the move a bit. The move didn't actually effect the weather, it created a sort of bubble-environment in the immediate area. Still, it was impressive. Most of the difficulty came in maneuvering through the hail, rather than using the move itself. Satori also pulled out Pikachu since he would fight too. A much better plan started to form in Satori's mind on how to deal with Grant.

The day before Satori's "cool-off period" was up she ran into Calem. It was unexpected, seeing as how she expected him to be at Ambrette for the next two to three weeks. "Calem?" She asked to catch his attention.

He swiveled around from the counter he was leaning on. They were in the Pokemon center, a sort of default gathering place for trainers. Calem looked to be getting his Pokemon healed, but with nothing better to do was just resting next to the nurse while she did her work.

"Oh. You." Calem said.

"Shouldn't you be in Ambrette?"

Satori could tell Calem was a bit offended by Satori's immediate question, but answered it anyways. "I thought I would drop back here and take on—"

"Take on the gym before going back for your fossil? I guess that makes sense."

"Have you faced him yet? Grant, I think his name is." Calem asked the question Satori wished he didn't.

"Yeah, but he won. I didn't exactly have the advantage, but I've got a plan for the rematch."

Calem nodded. "I'm not surprised. Your primary types are fire and electric, which leaves you a wide range of—"

"Vulnerabilities, I _know._"Satori was miffed that she was being _lectured, _but didn't make anything more of it. "I suppose you're in a better position, then?"

"We'll see." _Frogadier will clean up, I'm sure. Water versus rock will be an easy win._

"Ehhh~" Satori mocked. "You seem a bit more confident than you're letting on~"

"Hmph." Calem turned back to the nurse, who had finished providing care to his pokemon. She handed a tray of three Pokeballs to him, which he stuck into his roster. Satori followed him a little ways to the gym, but veered off before they arrived.

It wasn't really unexpected, but Calem returned victorious. Satori had hoped that he would have failed like she did, but it was an unrealistic thought. He didn't make a big deal out of it, but Satori could read his thoughts. He was damn pleased with himself. The only reason he didn't voice it was out of some sort of concern or desire to be polite.

Satori pushed his buttons on this until they parted ways to go to their own separate rooms for the night. She couldn't really help herself, it was just what she did.

Soon enough the next day arrived and Satori was allowed to try again. She felt much better this time around, surprisingly so. She had an _actual plan_. And when she climbed back up the spire in the gym and faced Grant, she knew exactly what she was to do.

"You're back," he said with a smile. "Excellent."

Satori was catching her breath from climbing the massive spire. She was more efficient at it than last time, but it still was a tiring endeavor. "Gimmi a minute, here." Satori said between breaths.

Grant chuckled. "The wall is not there to keep you out. The wall is there for you to show how badly you want it."

"How philosophical."

"A phrase I take to heart. I wish I could meet the man who came up with it." Grant paused. "Ready to begin?"

With those words, Satori prepared herself for battle and focused her Third Eye on Grant. _I guess I won't be too cruel and just start out with Amaura again. If she's learned anything she'll send out her Braixen. _Satori didn't need the information but it was a nice confirmation of her plan of attack. Grant threw out his Pokeball at the same time Satori threw out hers, and in the arena appeared Amaura and Braixen.

"Amaura, take it down." Grant shouted, and the Amaura charged Braixen. It was slow enough for Satori to direct Braixen away to dodge, and Braixen retaliated by charging the Amaura, her entire body surrounded by flames. After a repetition of the same maneuver, Amaura had feinted with no real trouble.

That part of the battle hadn't worried her, however. Satori recalled Braixen—she wouldn't be of use against Tyrunt—and prepared to send out Absol.

"It's only been a week, but you look a bit more confident than last time." Grant said. _I wonder if she has a plan or is just hoping to get lucky this time. Perhaps I'll up the ante on her a bit. _"Go, Tyrunt."

Satori threw out her Absol, but told it to be cautious in response to Grant's thoughts. The Tyrunt's opening move was to trot to one side of the stage, heave a rock and _throw it at Absol. _The Absol dodged, but it caught Satori off guard. She shook it off before the Tyrunt could do it again, and commanded Absol to use hail.

A dark cloud formed over the arena and it started to rain ice, hitting the stage. Satori realized she and Grant were in the radius of the attack, as well as some people who were probably still trying to climb up the spire.

Satori grinned as she scanned Tyrunt's thoughts. It was _pissed off, _exactly what she had planned on happening. "Absol, now!" Satori yelled, and Absol charged towards the Tyrunt and swiped at it. The attack hit. Tyrunt wasn't out, but he took a good chunk of damage.

Absol got one more hit on Tyrunt, but before she could retreat Tyrunt spun around and grabbed her in its massive jaw. Satori knew what would come next, and winced in sympathy as Absol was crunched between Tyrunt's teeth. She recalled Absol as soon as she could.

Pikachu was last up. Tyrunt was weak, and Satori told the Pikachu to use quick, light attacks. Tyrunt was weak from the Absol's attacks, and although Pikachu couldn't do as much damage the Tyrunt was far too slow to keep up with him. Satori lost count after Pikachu's seventh attack, but it wasn't too more after that when Tyrunt visibly fell over, unconscious.

_Boom, baby. That's how you fight. _Pikachu trotted around the stage that was covered in little ice pellets from the hail. The storm had stopped during Pikachu's turn and the ice was just starting to melt. Satori couldn't help but clap her hands and cheer at her victory. Unlike with Viola, she felt like she had _overcome _something. She had put a plan into action and it worked, she didn't just scare the person into submission.

"Congratulations," Grant said. "I'm impressed, that was a great plan." He walked over to one of the rocks and pulled a small wooden box out from behind it. Satori walked up, and Grant handed it to her. Inside was very similar to what she had received from Viola. There was a badge shaped like a jagged cliffside, a small card with TM39 written on it, and a wad of cash.

"Thank you," Satori said.

"That's the cliff badge there, and the TM is for Rock Tomb. That's the move that Tyrunt used to throw rocks. It can be really useful depending on the environment you're fighting in, although in some places it will be less than useless. Use it wisely.

"That being said," Grant said apprehensively. "I want to ask you something, specifically." Satori gave him a questioning look. "Well," he said, "I was on guard last week and today about you trying to throw me off like you did with Viola. But you didn't do that, you actually used a very good strategy to win."

"That's not really a question," Satori pointed out. "But, uh, thanks?"

Grant shook his head. "I mean, why didn't you?"

"Honestly?"

Grant nodded.

"I didn't know what to say." Satori admitted. "There didn't seem to be anything that would really bother you like there was for Viola."

That didn't seem to be the answer Grant wanted to hear, going by the look on his face. _Well, I guess it would be too hopeful to think that she had a change of heart._ His thoughts confirmed it, but Satori didn't really care.

"Well," Grant said. "I wish you the best of luck." _I'm curious what kind of person you'll turn into, Satori. _"Here, there's a slide to the bottom behind me so you don't have to climb all the way back down."

Satori took him up on his offer and slide down to the ground level. It was kind of fun, and on her way out of the gym Satori admired her new badge. The Cliff Badge. She felt it with her fingers, and found the texture to be rough and jagged. She figured it was on purpose, to represent rocks or something along those lines.

Satori placed her new badge with the old one, but she realized that she should probably find some place safer to keep it. Collecting badges was a fairly common activity, there was probably some clever way of keeping them Satori was not made aware of. She decided to head to the Pokemart to see what they had.

Just as she left, Satori found her all of her companions waiting near the gym's entrance.

"I'm back," Satori said.

"Mhmm. How did it go?" Shauna asked. With pride, Satori flashed the Cliff Badge and smiled. "Cool," Shauna replied.

"Thanks."

"We would have come with you, but it wasn't exactly accessible." Trevor said. There wasn't really any room to spectate either if Satori recalled correctly. A few people looked up from below, but they couldn't of had much of a view. "So we were talking about Pokemon."

"Were you, now?"

"Calem was telling us about some super rare legendary," Shauna exclaimed. "What was its name? ee-vol-tule?"

"Yveltal," Calem corrected. "It and Xerneas are supposed to be two legendaries of destruction and creation. Just stories though."

"Boring." Satori uttered.

"So what now?" Tierno asked. It gave Satori and the others a moment consideration. Calem was the de facto navigator of the group, but he would have to go back to Ambrette so the rest couldn't venture too far.

"So I guess I'm going up to Geosenge," Satori said. "I'll wait for you guys there, I could use a break."

"From us?" Calem asked. Satori smirked instead of replying.

"I kinda want to see Ambrette, to be honest." Shauna said to bring us back on topic. "I'll head back there with Calem, if that's alright." Calem nodded.

Trevor and Tierno decided to stay in Cyllage for a bit. Once again, their group would be splitting up. Their situation seemed to be drifting away from a large group walking together, and a loose group that just meets up every once in awhile on their own journeys. Satori didn't really have a problem with this, it was kind of painful for her to be around a large group. She enjoyed the quiet.

The group decided to part ways, and Satori resumed her walk to the Pokemon center. Once she arrived, she walked up to the nurse and handed over her three Pokeballs. Her pokemon needed healing after her battle with Grant. While she waited for the nurse to do her job, Satori walked to the back of the center where the Pokemon Mart was located.

"Welcome to the Pokemart," greeted the shop clerk. "How may I help you?"

"Hi. I'm a trainer, and I was wondering if there was something I could use to hold my badges and stuff like that."

"Hmmm," the clerk thought for a moment. "You would have better luck at a boutique than here. We carry cheap plastic cases, but if you go to a specialty store they will have some really nice ones."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." The shop clerk thought a moment. "I don't know what your budget is, but I think the Cyllage boutique will sell you something nice between two and ten thousand. If you're rich then Lumoise will have cases upwards of one hundred thousand."

Satori considered her funds. After her TM trading she had about fifteen thousand left over. Not nearly enough to afford Lumoise prices, but she could easily pick something up from Cyllage.

"Thanks," Satori said. "Can you tell me where the Cyllage boutique is?"

The clerk happily gave her directions. Satori picked up her Pokemon from the nurse and headed to where the clerk said. The boutique was right on the side of the large bicycle path that ran through the city, and there was a good amount of activity around it. Satori hesitated at first, but bit the bullet and entered.

She was bombarded immediately.

"Welcome to Cyllage Boutique, my god aren't you cute? Here, come with me, you absolutely _must _try some of these accessories." The clerk grabbed Satori's arm and led her deeper into the shop.

"I, uh, er," Satori had a hard time getting a word in edgewise.

"Here, try this hairband on. It was rated one of the top ten sports hairbands in Cyllage Monthly." The clerk slid a yellow hairband onto Satori's head before she could stop her. "Yes, now let's just pull the hair out here—ah, snag it in here a bit. And now we fluff this part. Oh, I know what would go perfect." The clerk then pulled a heart-shaped hair clip from the shelf and clipped it on Satori's left side. "Oh yes that frames your face perfectly."

"W-Wait, I didn't want—"

"Nonsense, you _must _take a look at yourself." The clerk pulled Satori over to one of the full-length mirrors hanging on the wall.

"No, really, I'm a trai...ner..." Satori trailed off as she looked at herself in the mirror. It took her longer than she would like to admit to gather her thoughts. She looked _cute. _It was weird that she thought that about herself, but the clerk had been completely right. She was amazed that a simple hairband and hairclip had that much of an effect.

Satori didn't really focus too much on her appearance, but she was starting to have second thoughts. Her face flushed red. "H-How much for..."

The clerk smiled with delight. "A mere 3,300P my dear."

"I'll take them, then..." Satori was very embarrassed, but the clerk didn't seem to mind. The clerk was going to go ring up the items, but Satori stopped her. "Wait, I need to buy something else. I'm a, er, Pokemon trainer and I needed a case for my badges."

"Oh, why didn't you say so? We have some _marvelous _badge cases right over here." The clerk led her by the hand to the other wall, where there were numerous cases propped up near the wall. "This deep violet case matches your hair and eyes, it will bring together your whole persona. A small 2,400P, and it has individual slots for each of the eight Kalos badges, as well as a slide for your ID card and photo."

Satori ended up buying it and the hairpieces for 5,700P. It was still in her budget, although she definitely ended up with more items than she planned on. She walked out of the store, still blushing, and rushed to find a quiet corner where no one could see her. It was hard in Cyllage, but there were a few.

When she was alone she smiled and fiddled with her new hairband. She liked it.


	5. Interlude I - Officer Jenny

_Satori in Kalos_

**Interlude I  
><strong>**Officer Jenny**

Officer Jenny watched as the two children left her kiosk, off to continue their journey. She was saddened that they had to face such an encounter at such a young age, but luckily nothing too traumatic happened. In fact, the girl had seemed quite capable of defending herself.

As per protocol, the officer began to type up an incident report on what had happened:

_OJ-236 Isabelle Taylor_

_Ambrette Office_

_Tuesday August 5 20XX_

The officer paused to think over how she would phrase the report. Her name wasn't _actually _"Officer Jenny" of course, it was more akin to a title. Her real name was Isabelle Taylor. The title referred to the branch of the police force that employed Pokemon and their trainers and was simply a smaller subset of the larger Kalos Police Department, or KPD. It was surprising how many criminals didn't realize there was a larger force besides the Jennys and were caught unaware as a highly trained team of officers wielding assault weapons surrounded their home.

Isabelle wasn't really trained in the use of anything besides her handgun, which was holstered at her side. Ignoring it, she reached to the left of her kiosk and grabbed a binder, flipping through it to the page that contained the incident report template. She didn't really mind the paperwork that came with the job, although out in Ambrette there were so few incidents so it never really piled up.

_3:30 Calem and Satori, two children, travel by Rhyhorn to the Glittering Cave. They were going to contact an on-site archaeologist._

_4:15 The two children arrive and head into the cave._

_4:30 Children encounter four individuals identifying themselves as "Team Flare," wearing orange leather clothing. Team Flare threatens the children and tells them to leave. The children feel threatened and send out Pokemon to defend themselves. A battle ensues leaving the children as the victors_

_4:40 Team Flare retreats from the cave, no one else reported seeing them. Children physically unharmed._

_5:54 Children report incident to Ambrette Office in person. _

The officer finished the report, deciding to go with a simple timeline template. She added a few other technical details here and there, and sent the message to her superiors in Lumoise. Normally for local events Isabelle would take care of it herself after filing the reports, and update the incident file as she went about her duty. However, she got an automatic notification right after she sent off the report:

_OJ-236, Regarding Incident Report AMBRETTE-0815XX-01_

_Your report contained keywords TEAM FLARE. Please suspend your investigation until contacted by Head Detective Onozuka Komachi. Thank you for your patience._

_(This message is automatic, please do not reply.)_

This was expected and Isabelle didn't dwell on it. All of the Jennys (and most other officers) had been briefed at some point on the Team Flare situation. The department was taking it seriously, although so far the team hasn't done anything really notable. They just stirred up trouble here and there.

That done with, the officer cleaned up the tea and sweets she had offered to the children. Her shift was almost done and a replacement Jenny would come soon. She wanted to make the kiosk tidy before that happened.

The next officer came right on time, but Isabelle stayed for an extra ten minutes to brief the new officer on the day's events. Since events were so rare in Ambrette, especially _relevant _ones, she thought it would be important to keep everyone informed.

After that, Isabelle clocked out and headed back to her house. She lived in a small place in Ambrette, alone, but that didn't bother her. She had her pokemon to keep her company. She reached her house and slipped her key into the lock. The mechanism clicked and opened.

Her house was just as she left it, cluttered and disorganized. As with every day, a Poochyena ran up to her as she entered and hopped all around her, eager at her return. Isabelle smiled and let the Poochyena follow her into the kitchen, where she prepared its dinner before preparing her own.

The simple life. Isabelle loved the quiet, simple life. As a Jenny, the favorite parts of her job was helping people in simple need such a lost children or an angry pokemon that needed taming. It's why she applied to Ambrette in the first place.

She spent the night watching TV, playing with her Pokemon and finally going to bed at exactly 12:00AM. She would wake up at 8:00 and arrive at the Kiosk at 9:30, eat breakfast there and start her shift at 10:00. Same as she did every day. Simple and tame. And so Isabelle drifted off to sleep dreaming of Flabébé floating among the flowers.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Isabelle shot up out of bed.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Her clock read 5:15, and that wasn't the sound of her alarm. It was the sound of her work-issued Holo Caster.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

She almost fell over herself trying to reach the damn thing, and fiddled with the buttons until she found the button to answer it with audio only. Her appearance was a bit unsightly at the moment and she didn't want whoever was calling her to see.

"Th..this is Officer Jenny..." She said, still groggy.

"Izzy, get over here." Said the voice from the other end. "The Head Detective wants to speak to you! What the hell is happening?"

Isabelle had a hard time forming her thoughts. "Mmmph...something...I'll be there soon..." She hung up the Holo Caster and tried to kick herself into gear. She did her hair, makeup and everything else as quickly as she could manage while shoving a bland meal bar down her throat for breakfast. Her Poochyena noticed how frantic she was, and tried to stay out of the way.

"Sorry, Pooches, gotta run." Isabelle said and hastily poured a random amount of food into his bowl. She ran out the door before the dog-like pokemon could even grasp what was happening.

The walk from her house to the kiosk was about fifteen minutes, although at a run Isabelle could cut it down to five. She arrived at the kiosk to see all of the Ambrette Jennys gathered, including quite a few others and the head detective herself.

Isabelle ran up to the group and saluted. "Officer Jenny reporting for duty, ma'am. Forgive my tardiness."

The head detective turned around. She wore a blue and white robe bound with a large brown sash at her waist. But what really drew attention was the massive scythe she rested against her shoulder. "No worries," she said lazily. "There isn't really any rush. Are you the officer who spoke with the witnesses?"

Isabelle felt like an idiot, but she was already here. What's done is done. "Yes, ma'am. I spoke with the children and filed the report."

"Just Komachi is fine," Komachi said as she yawned. "Let's get a pot of coffee brewing and talk about it."

Komachi walked over to the kiosk and sat down as another officer began to prepare the pot. Isabelle sat down next to her and relayed everything that had happened the previous day. In the middle of her story she was handed a cup by her co-worker and Komachi used the break in the story to start asking questions.

After the debrief was over, Komachi stood up and shuffled around the area. There were a good number of officers hanging around, mostly just chatting to themselves or trying to wake themselves up by shoving inordinate amounts of coffee down their gullets.

"Mmmmm..." Komachi rubbed her chin with her fingers. "Team Flare shows up in the Glittering cave..."

Isabelle watched the head detective of the entire Kalos Police Department lazily wander around. It didn't look like she was doing much of anything except taking in the scenery. After what must have been fifteen minutes, she finally spoke again.

"Two possibilities as I see it," she said suddenly. Everyone else looked in her direction, a bit more alert than they had been earlier. Isabelle wondered if Komachi took so long because she was just as tired, or if she purposefully waited for everyone else to wake up a bit more. "One," Komachi continued, "Team Flare was looking to somehow steal or mine the walls of the cave for a quick profit. Two, they were looking to steal or destroy the fossils. Anyone else have any ideas?"

Everyone nodded at Komachi's breakdown of the possibilities, and a male officer raised his hand. It felt degrading for Isabelle to call him a "regular officer," but that's essentially what he was. Komachi nodded in his direction.

"Perhaps they were looking for a place to hide out?"

Komachi shook her head. "Good idea, but it's unlikely. The Glittering Cave sees a lot of activity every day from scientists, it would be foolish to use it as a hide out."

Isabelle rose her hand next, and Komachi spun around to look at her. "Uh," Isabelle said, "maybe they stole something and were trying to stash it there?"

"Interesting, but I don't think so." Komachi crossed her arms and looked down. "We haven't gotten any reports of stolen items...or at least items worth stashing, and the same argument also applies. The Glittering Cave is far too active to be a smart place to stash stolen items."

"O-Oh, sorry..."

Komachi shook her head. "Don't be. Ideas are made to be knocked down. Never feel bad for doing it to others' nor having it done to yours." Isabelle nodded firmly, but stayed quiet. No one else really offered any other ideas as Komachi fiddled with her scythe. "Okay then," she said, "then let's start with number one:

"Team Flare invaded the Glittering Cave to mine the resources to turn a profit. Tell me why this is false."

Isabelle turned her head to look at the others. Her coworkers in Ambrette looked as confused as she did, but the other officers didn't seem disturbed. They probably worked with Komachi long enough to know how she operates. A few of them spoke, offering an idea why the team _wouldn't _mine for resources, or tried to show how it didn't make sense if they did. After each idea Komachi would come up with a counter-argument.

Some of the arguments and counter-arguments were fairly thin. "Excuse me," Isabelle said after a while of this back and fourth. Everyone gave her their attention. "A mining operation in the Glittering Cave would be a massive operation. To turn any _real _profit would require heavy machinery. Team Flare is on a watch list, right? If they set something like that up, we'd notice for sure and stop it."

Komachi casually pointed her finger at Isabelle. "If they were sneaking and only chipping away at a few gems per day, they could stay relatively discreet and turn a profit of...probably about 10,000P a day. Not a large amount, but not small either."

That didn't satisfy Isabelle, and she shook her head. "Maybe for a small time criminal, but isn't Team Flare supposed to be a large organization? Plus, with each day the likelihood of being caught rises. It's a stupid plan."

Komachi smiled. "I don't think this idea is worth defending anymore, my arguments are getting increasingly thin. Let's move on:

"Two, Team Flare is looking to steal or destroy fossils. Tell me why this is false."

"Because fossils aren't worth a damn," spoke up an officer. Everyone laughed at his jab including Komachi, but he restated his idea more formally after the laughter died down. "Except to scientists and researchers, there's no point in collecting fossils."

"Not necessarily," Komachi said. "Maybe there's some valuable piece of information that can be gathered from a certain fossil. Or maybe Team Flare is trying to revive some pokemon of their own."

Isabelle raised her hand and waited to be called on like a school girl. "Shouldn't we talk to the scientists and figure out what they're actually researching? It might help us refine our investigation."

Komachi nodded. "Excellent idea." She then began to divide up the forces into two squads. The first would head to the museum and talk to the people stationed there. The second would head to the mine and look around _there. _Isabelle ended up going with Komachi to the Glittering Cave, along with a couple other officers who she didn't know.

The ride to the mine was about an hour. Isabelle, for living in Ambrette, rarely actually rode the Rhyhorns to the cave. It wasn't terribly difficult to at least stay on it, although she could see how it was a definite skill to be learned.

During the ride, Isabelle couldn't help but stare at the head detective Komachi. Her eyes were closed and Isabelle wasn't sure if she was asleep or not. The scythe rested on her right shoulder and didn't look like it would fall out of her grasp. Was she really awake, or just that controlled during sleep?

Halfway through the trip, Komachi's eyes flickered open and she caught Isabelle staring at her. She gave her a little smile. "How's it going?" She asked.

Isabelle was a bit embarrassed at being caught staring and her face flushed red. "Good," she said awkwardly. The conversation didn't really pick up but Komachi didn't seem to be that uncomfortable by the silence.

The group of officers arrived in due time at the Glittering Cave, and Komachi resumed command. The group of officers walked briskly through the cave until they reached the open chamber at the end. Komachi told most of the men to inspect the cave walls and excavation sites for any clues. Isabelle didn't think "ordered" was the right word, it was more like Komachi just said things that should be done and her underlings did them.

Komachi took Isabelle and another Jenny to talk to the archaeologists. They found two working in the cave, and at the presence of numerous officers stopped their work and paid full attention.

"Hey, 'scuse me," Komachi said. "I'm a detective with the KPD. Mind if we talk?"

The scientists nodded. "What about?"

"Trespassers here, yesterday. Late afternoon...ish. We're kind of curious what they were doing here. Are you working on anything in particular worth stealing?"

The scientists looked to one another and shrugged. The one on the right muttered something, but Isabelle couldn't make it out. "Well," one of them said after a moment. "We only have three excavation sites at the moment and I don't think any of them are particularly noteworthy."

"Tell us about them."

"The first is what we imagine is just an Amaura fossil. We find about one a month, it's no big deal. We'll dig it out and take it back to our lab to resurrect it for some lucky trainer." Komachi nodded her head, but kept listening to the scientist's explanation. "The second is the site of numerous Absol bones. Some sort of long past tragedy, although the exact nature we haven't figured out yet. There's some link to mega evolution that we think will be useful. Maybe that's what your guys were looking for?"

Komachi hummed. "Maybe," she said. "What's the third site?"

"A couple of artifacts. Pots, bowls, that sort of thing. There was a carved tablet too, although it's damaged so we don't really know what it says. We haven't accurately dated it yet, but it's probably at least a hundred years old."

"And that's it?"

"Yeah."

Isabelle was left with the two scientists as her superior started to wander off. Komachi slowly walked towards one of the walls of the cave and sat down, leaning against the cool stone. Isabelle didn't quite know what to do about that, so she turned back to the scientists and asked them a couple of more basic questions. Where were they the time of the incident, any thoughts they had, if they recognized anybody. Typical police stuff.

Eventually the scientists were bled dry of their information, and the others started to come back. Komachi had her eyes closed, but when enough people gathered she stirred. She didn't stand up though.

"Detective Komachi," one of the officers said. "We've examined the walls very thoroughly. The gemstones in the walls are not nearly as easy to remove as one would think. Any sort of hit-and-run mining operation wouldn't be feasible."

"Good work," Komachi said slowly. "I think we can safely assume that Team Flare was after the fossils. To what end, I have no idea."

"They aren't valuable," Isabelle said. "Not even to the right people. They practically just _give_ them away."

"Scientists give them away for research purposes," Komachi said. "They would probably be less agreeable if Team Flare wanted the fossils for some secret project that wouldn't benefit the scientific community."

"That obstacle could be circumvented with nothing more than a clever lie." Isabelle realized she had been a bit combative and regretted saying it to her superior. However, Komachi didn't seem to notice. Or if she did notice, she didn't seem to care.

"True," she said simply.

Isabelle was hesitant to speak again, and the silence lasted for several minutes. This sort of situation seemed to happen a lot near Komachi. She went at her own pace, sometimes it was quick but mostly it was very slow. Isabelle didn't know what to do besides just stand by and wait for her directions.

Eventually Komachi rose. "I'm afraid," she said, "we simply do not have enough information to make any reasonable guess at their motives. If I didn't know better I would say they just wanted to steal fossils in a misguided attempt to obtain their own Pokemon. But the fact that they were Team Flare members points to a higher motive."

"Are you saying we have to wait for them to do something else?" Isabelle was angry. "_Children _were caught up in this."

Komachi looked to the side. "You're right. But there's no one to arrest."

"We can put up posters, at least. Warn people."

Komachi nodded. "Do that. I'll be in town for the next couple days, but the chief will want me back in Lumiose soon."

Isabelle was actually a bit surprised her idea was listened to. Perhaps it was unfair of her to assume the higher-ups in the department would be tied up in red tape and such nonsense. Years of cop dramas on television spoiled her image of her own career. But Komachi _listened _to ideas, didn't shut her down, and even agreed with her ideas and let her implement them.

She started to like the head detective.

Over the next couple of days, Isabelle and the other Jennys drafted up an awareness campaign about Team Flare. They had posters describing the uniform and told people not to approach anyone wearing the uniform. The department officially classified them as "dangerous individuals," but did not name them with any other buzzword like "terrorist" or "cult member."

A number of posters were put up around Ambrette at Isabelle's initiative, although the physical posters didn't spread anywhere else. Isabelle also pushed for information to be made available online, but her hopes were dashed as the bureaucracy halted her in her step. It apparently would take up to _four weeks _for something like that to get approved by someone in her position, if it was approved at all.

Isabelle thought of giving up, but decided to take her concerns to Komachi instead. Komachi glanced at the form she had filled out for a moment before attaching her own name to it and a ten-digit code Isabelle could make no sense of.

The information was on the KPD homepage the next day.

Isabelle started to _really_ like the head detective.

After about a week, it was clear that there were no leads to follow up on and Komachi returned to Lumiose. After the whirlwind of activity following the Team Flare incident, Isabelle's routine started to fall right back into place. It was almost like the entire investigation never happened, the only evidence of anything having taken place was the posters around town.

But seeing them made the Officer Jenny feel confident she was making a difference. Keeping people safe. That was, ultimately, what she had signed on for. And she was very glad that the rest of her coworkers and superiors took that seriously.


	6. Rumble

_Satori in Kalos_

**Chapter 6  
><strong>**Rumble**

_I feel funny. _Braixen was walking a bit strangely. _Something's strange. This place..._

Satori and the rest of her pokemon stood in Route 10, the connecting route between Cyllage and Geosenge. Laid throughout the route were a large number of very large stones, and although they looked peculiar Satori didn't find them especially interesting. They at least made an interesting atmosphere. Kalos was turning out to be a very interesting place to travel through.

"I heard some people mentioning the stones were magic." Satori said. "Maybe that's it?"

_Not magic, but it's the stones for sure, _Absol said. _There's something about them._

The stones varied from a couple feet to over fifteen feet high. They seemed old enough that Satori thought the term "ancient" applied, and thick grass grew around them. Older than her, probably. Satori ran her hands along some of the stones, but as far as she could tell they were just normal old stones. Her pokemon seemed to feel different about it, but Satori was left in the dark.

Still, it wasn't hurtful to them and plenty of other people passed through this area, so Satori wasn't overly worried. In fact, it was probably known what the stones were, she just hadn't bothered to look it up. Scientists seemed to know a hell of a lot these days and she hadn't seen any around. Which means this place had long since been investigated.

She made a mental note to look it up later, or maybe ask Professor Sycamore. It would be a good excuse to see him again.

_Can we hurry up boss, I don't like it here. _Pikachu trotted along easily keeping pace with the much larger Absol. Satori was surprised even he was turned off by this place, usually he tried to assert dominance. She assumed he would say something like, "bah, it's not so bad." It must be a really abnormal effect.

"We can quicken the pace, I think." Satori said. "Geosenge shouldn't be more than a few hours away, although I think the town was built around similar stones..."

_So what you're saying is, _Braixen said, _even in town we'll probably feel this._

"No, it'll probably be worse. Still, nothing a stay in a pokeball won't—"

_KILL_

The powerful thought struck Satori. From the right. She immediately turned and raised her arms to protect herself on instinct. An instant later the blurred form of a dog-like pokemon appeared in front of Satori and latched its jaws on her forearm.

The pokemon's momentum toppled Satori to the ground, but it wouldn't release her arm. It moved its head from side to side, its teeth scraping through the flesh. She screamed out in pain and tried to grab the pokemon's head with her hand and push it away. But it was too strong and she couldn't do anything besides close her eyes.

The movement of the pokemon's head stopped not a second later, and its jaw opened to let her arm go. Satori opened her eyes, but tears blurred her vision. She blinked a few times and shook her head to dry them, and saw the form of Absol standing over her. Between her and Absol was the smaller form of a Houndour, its neck torn nearly in half. A chunk of flesh dropped from Absol's mouth.

Satori felt hot liquid running down her arm. It took her a few moments to realize it was blood, some of it hers, but blood also poured from the Houndour's wound onto her stomach. The pain from her arm stung and she saw a series of deep cuts where the pokemon had bit her. Blood poured out of them faster than Satori knew was safe.

But before she could tend to her wounds, she saw a figure standing a little ways off in the distance. He stood out from the scenery since he was wearing a bright orange jumpsuit. He had a shocked look on his face, but quickly put on his composure.

"Let that be a lesson to you, little girl! Don't mess with Team Flare!"

The man ran off before she could respond. Absol turned to chase him, but stopped when Satori cried for her to stay. It wasn't worth it, she needed to wrap up her arm and get to a hospital as soon as possible. Such an injury wouldn't _kill_ a youkai, but without proper treatment it would take awhile to heal.

She rustled through her bag with her good arm for her first aid kit. She didn't have any formal training, but she knew enough to know you _stop wounds from bleeding. _She hurried to pull out all the cotton pads and medical tape from the kit, poured water from her canteen over her arm and began to dress her wounds. It was rough and she felt she should have used some sort of disinfectant, but she was for sure going to a hospital anyways. Her primary concern was not losing more blood.

Her pokemon stood around her in concern as she did this. Braixen helped her tie the medical tape around her arm, although the others didn't have the thumbs to help. The bandages stained red but it seemed to have done the trick.

Satori didn't even give the dead Houndour a second thought as she packed up her things and stood up. The pain from her arm intensified at the strain she put on her body just standing up. Satori needed to get to Geosenge as quick as possible, but she felt that running would only make things worse. And none of her pokemon were large enough to ride.

And yet there was no other choice but to walk. Every ten or twenty steps or so, the pain would shoot through Satori's arm. That's not to say it didn't hurt in the interim, it just got that much more intense whenever she moved it wrong or took a heavy step. The walk was painful, and it seemed to drag on forever. Satori seriously regretted doing this without the others. What the hell was she thinking?

Eventually Geosenge came into sight, and a few people turned to see Satori rush through the entrance, cradling her bandaged arm.

"Help," she gasped. "I need a hospital..."

A few of the men rushed to her aid and helped her to the hospital. Satori only noticed that it seemed small before she was pushed through the doors and was attended to by a doctor.

"What happened?" The doctor asked, checking her arm.

"I was bit by a Houndour," Satori said. "It seemed...vicious."

The doctor carefully unwrapped her wounds. Satori looked away while he worked, but she could feel herself still bleeding. She knew that wasn't a good sign. The doctor spouted a few lines like "don't worry" and "it's not too bad," but it was just typical doctor speak. His thoughts betrayed him in front of the young Satori.

_Jesus, how did this happen to her. _Satori couldn't help but overhear the doctor's true thoughts, but she tried to ignore it to the best she could. She wasn't looking at what the doctor was doing to her arm, but she felt him rub some chemical on it in some places, bandaging parts of it up, but it took while. _That's strange, it's already starting to heal._

"Several of these wounds are going to need stitches," he said. "But there will be no lasting damage to your arm, miss...?"

"Satori."

"Miss Satori, then." Before the doctor could say more, a nurse came over carrying a small box. The doctor took the box, opened it and began fiddling with a few tools Satori didn't know the names of. "This will hurt a little bit, try to stop yourself from jerking your arm, okay?"

"Okay."

Satori did her best to bear through the pain as the doctor stitched up her arm. It was slow, and Satori tried to keep her mind off it but she always kept coming back to the pain. The doctor's thoughts became boring, he was just reciting some medical jargon as he did his task. Satori was grateful at least he knew what he was doing, but it didn't serve to distract her. She couldn't help but wonder if he would find out she's a youkai, but his thoughts never drifted in that direction.

"Done," the doctor said cheerfully. Satori let out a deep breath she didn't realize she had been holding in.

"Am I okay?" Satori asked. She felt dumb as she said it, but still wanted it answered.

"You'll be fine, it's not as bad as it looks. Your arm will hurt for a few weeks, and you may get a stinging pain for a few months if you over exert yourself. The sutures will be absorbed into your skin in about two weeks, so you don't need to come back unless it doesn't seem to be healing."

Satori sat in the hospital bed and listened as the doctor continued. "If you're going to be active, you should wrap your arm up for the next week or so. The wounds weren't as bad as they looked or probably felt, but infection is always something to worry about. Better safe than sorry, right?"

Satori nodded. "I was just going to take it easy for my companions to come here, anyways." She said. She had actually hoped on training her pokemon a bit more, but she may have to revise her plans.

The doctor smiled. "That's good, it'll be best to just relax. You certainly picked a great town to do it, Geosenge is as relaxing as it gets. I'm going to prescribe you some painkillers. Take one of these pills every 12 hours until you run out."

Satori was handed a small bottle. It had something written on it she couldn't make sense of—one of those complicated medicine names. She took it graciously though and held onto it in her right hand, the one that wasn't injured.

"Can I go, then?" Satori asked. The doctor nodded, and led Satori out of the small hospital. She felt...better. Her arm still hurt, but the erratic thoughts and fear subsided. The hardest part was always not knowing. Not knowing how bad it really was.

Satori was a youkai. Youkai in general were considerably harder to kill than humans, but still susceptible to injury. In time they would recover fully to the point where it's impossible to tell they were injured, but if they take too much damage too fast it's over. Nothing can escape death's eternal grasp.

Plus, painkillers are preferable to no painkillers.

Satori found her pokemon sitting obediently outside the hospital. When they saw her, they eagerly ran up to her.

_Are you okay, master?_ Braixen asked. The others asked the same question, and Satori sat down on a bench outside the hospital while her pokemon circled around her.

"I'm going to be fine," Satori said as much for herself as she did them. "Thank you guys...especially you, Absol. It—it couldn't have been easy to..." Satori trailed off. It wasn't like her, to hesitate on her words.

_I would do it again in a heartbeat for you, mistress. I will protect you._

_We all will, _Braixen added.

_Hell yes we will, boss. I'm going to _kill _those Team Flare bastards._

Satori smiled and knelt down on the ground, bringing all three of her pokemon together in a large bear hug. "Thank you, you guys."

Satori spent a long time just relaxing there on the bench with her three pokemon. She knew she should go to the police, but she didn't want to stand up. That feeling persisted for nearly an hour, and Satori just sat there scratching and petting her three pokemon in regular intervals. But she eventually forced herself off the bench. As she stood up, pain shot through her arm and she grabbed it reflexively.

She really would have to take it easy.

The police station here was only a little bit bigger than it was in Ambrette. Satori felt it was too big to be called a kiosk, but it hardly qualified as a "station." At least there was more than one person on staff.

Every head in the building turned towards Satori as she walked through the door. She figured out the reason a second before everyone's thoughts confirmed it. Her clothes were completely bloodstained. Even though most of it was the Houndour's and not hers, she probably looked like she'd been through hell and back.

An Officer Jenny took Satori to a room to take her statement, and events proceeded in a similar manner to how they had back in Ambrette. The officer made a call to the Ambrette office, and it look like a lot of bureaucratic nonsense was exchanged back and fourth so they could confirm that Satori was in _two _Team Flare related incidents.

Satori was offered some sort of police protection, but it was so restrictive that Satori turned it down. Her involvement with the team seemed to be at an end, for the most part. She had hurt them, they got their revenge. Unless there was something she wasn't reading into, that was the end of it.

She did, however, decide to head to a camping equipment store. Geosenge was a small town so it was more like a general store, but it had a definite emphasis on camping and hiking. She purchased a higher quality first aid kit and a medium-sized hunting knife. She didn't know how to use the latter efficiently, but just having it made her feel safer.

Satori's final stop was the Pokemon Center, where she dropped off her pokemon for healing and checked in to one of the rooms. Her clothes were unsalvageable, so she tossed them into the garbage. She had a few spare outfits but she'd have to replace the one she lost.

On that thought, Satori reached up to feel her hair. The hairpin and hairband she bought were still there. She sighed in relief that she hadn't tanked that much money for it to be lost because of that Team Flare bastard.

The following days sort of blended together by the second week of staying in Geosenge. Satori spent most of each day walking around and letting her pokemon play. It was nice to take a breather from her journey and just wait around for her friends to show up.

The entire group showed up at once, which caught Satori off guard. Satori heard the familiar patterns of their thoughts before she saw them. When they rounded the corner, Satori popped out and surprised them.

"Uwah!" Shauna exclaimed. "You scared me~"

"Heh, I—" Satori stopped herself as string of pain shot down her arm. Her arm had healed somewhat over the weeks, but it was still noticeable.

"Ohmygod, Satori, what happened?" Shauna asked looking at her arm. At her question, the others turned their attention to Satori's left forearm. There were stitches and scars where she had been bitten, but it had healed enough where she no longer had to wrap it.

Satori turned to look at Calem. It suddenly occurred to her that she wasn't the _only _one who had pissed off Team Flare. "I was attacked on route ten," Satori said. "By Team Flare." She added.

Calem froze. "B-Because of what we did?"

Satori nodded, and Calem's look soured. "I went to the police, again. They were nice enough, but I get the impression it's not something we should get involved with."

"But you were attacked," said Tierno. "They need to catch the criminal who did it."

"I don't know the details, but it's bigger than that." Satori said. She actually knew _quite a few _details that she wasn't supposed to, just by walking into the station. Team Flare had committed a string of misdemeanors and a felony here and there. Not good guys. But they were organized and elusive. Satori's statement would, according to the pessimistic thoughts of her interviewer, end up as nothing more than an entry on the team's rap sheet.

It wasn't comforting. Satori felt she could gleam a lot more just by hanging out near the station, but like she told Calem, it wasn't something she should get involved with.

"Let's change the subject," Trevor said. Everyone turned their attention to him, and he hesitated. "The, uh, Reflection Cave, right?"

Calem nodded. "Our next destination, and we should go in as a group. It is apparently _ridiculously _convoluted. Navigating it is going to be a bitch."

"Language!" Shauna exclaimed.

"Ah, sorry. But the sentiment stands."

"So," Tierno said, "is there some trick for navigating through it? Something with rope, or signs, or something?"

Calem shook his head. "Apparently people aren't that nice. The cave is an 'experience,' and anything artificial like guide ropes would ruin it. There's maps, but they're only so useful."

"Why?" Shauna asked. "Maps are good."

"The Reflection Cave is filled with reflective surfaces. Like mirrors, but not mirrors. It's not so much about knowing what passageway to take, it's about knowing the passageway is there in the first place."

"And the contingency if we get lost?" Satori asked.

Calem shrugged. It wasn't a reassuring gesture. "We don't?"

Satori sighed. The next day, the group prepared to take the excursion into the cave. It was early in the morning, and all five of them were checking their bags. Each of them had an array of similar items—bedrolls, spare outfits, pokeballs, and similar equipment—but each one also had their own unique items that showed the different paths they were on.

Calem had a lot of spare pokeballs, many of which were specialty balls that Satori didn't even realize existed. He also had a number of maps and guidebooks to the Kalos region, and some higher quality excursion equipment.

Shauna, on the other hand, mostly had clothing and grooming supplies. Some of it was for her, but a lot of it seemed to be for her Furfrou. Satori also eyed a few books on the subject. Trevor had a lot of books too, but their covers were bland and Satori couldn't make out what they were. He also had notebooks which he clearly used for his own personal observations. Tierno had a number of strange items that Satori only realized were for dancing after she scanned his thoughts.

Satori looked in her own pack for something that defined _her. _All she had was the first aid kit and the knife she had bought just a little while earlier. That didn't bode well.

The journey to the cave wouldn't take too long, but apparently the excursion through the cave itself could take anywhere from four days to four weeks, depending on how lost the travelers were. Satori _really _hoped they were closer to the lower bound than the upper bound, but they all brought an excessive amount of canned food just in case.

The hike up to the cave entrance wasn't too bad, although it steeped in incline a few hours out of Geosenge. Satori's arm hurt, and she tried to take it as easy as she could without slowing down the other members of her group. She knew they would make allowances for her if she asked, but she didn't want to have to.

"Hey Satori," Shauna said suddenly. Satori was mainly focused on her steps and her arm, and it took her a moment to get her bearings.

"Yes?"

"That's a cute hairband."

"Oh, uh, thanks." Satori tried to suppress a blush.

"I didn't know you were into fashion, you should have said so." _Maybe I can get closer to Satori, I hope we have some common ground here._

"I'm not, I just sort of..." Satori was fully blushing now. "I liked how it looked."

_Ha. She _is _a girl, _Calem thought. Satori was a bit offended at that, but at least he was polite enough not to express it audibly. Satori's ability gave her insight to everyone's thoughts, and it had a tendency to sour relationships. The discord between people's _thoughts _and their _words _was huge.

The hike mostly took place in silence. Satori could hear everyone's thoughts, of course, but they weren't interesting. Tierno was distracting himself by imagining pokemon dancing. Trevor was trying to do something similar by going over the facts he knew about various pokemon, but it wasn't working. He kept getting distracted by the climb. Calem and Shauna didn't have many thoughts at all, they mostly focused on each step.

They eventually passed by a sign pointing to the cave, and the group stopped to get their bearings. They could see the entrance a way away and a few people waiting outside in a campsite. Everyone decided to wait until tomorrow to enter the cave, and enjoyed a night around the campfire.

The next morning, Satori and the others penetrated into the Reflection Cave.

"My god."

The cave certainly lived up to its name. It was like walking into a carnival mirror fun house. It was nearly impossible for Satori to get her own bearings, let alone the layout of the cave.

"This is going to be a problem."

That was the understatement of the year. The map they had wasn't nearly accurate enough to navigate well. And sure enough, they reached dead ends galore and could have sworn they passed that one wall yesterday. The majesty of the cave wore off after a few hours traveling, and by the fifth day the group thought of the mirrors as nothing but a major annoyance.

It wasn't until day seven when something _interesting _happened.

"Hey, what's that?" Calem asked. Everyone turned to where he was pointing to see a blue pokemon. Satori compared it to a punching bag.

"Wobba wobba!" It shouted. _Wobba wobba!_

Satori noted the parallels between its words and its thoughts. Satori approached the Pokemon rather casually—she didn't detect any hostility. The pokemon just sort of sat there, and it turned towards Satori as she got close.

"Wobba wobba!" It saluted her. Satori shrugged, and saluted back.

"Wobba wobba," Satori responded. She didn't really know what to say.

"Er," Shauna interrupted. "What exactly are you doing, Satori?"

Satori ignored her and poked the pokemon. It leaned back from the force of her push slightly, and then rolled back towards her, and then back, and forwards again, until it stabilized. It was kind of neat.

"Wobba wobba!" It was smiling.

"Look how cute it is!" Satori said, and wrapped her arms around the giant blue pokemon. It rocked back and fourth, taking Satori along for the ride.

"Wobba!"

The rest of her group looked at Satori strangely until Tierno started laughing.

"W-What?" Satori asked.

"Sorry," he said. "Just, I didn't quite expect that out of you."

Satori pouted. "Screw you guys, I'm keeping him."

"Wobba!"

"Yes, exactly."

And that was the end of that.

"So how many pokemon does this make now for you, Satori?" Calem asked after Satori had captured the completely willing Wobbuffet. Satori knew he had taken the "gotta catch 'em all" approach, so he probably had far more than she did.

"Four."

"Mmmhmmm." He didn't say anything more as the group moved on. It was a few minutes before Calem spoke up, which Satori was desperately waiting for since his thoughts went over and over the right way to say it. "If I may," he finally said, "why are you only capturing a small number? You'll have more versatility in gym battles if you gather pokemon of every different type than if you just stick to a single roster your entire journey."

Satori shrugged. "I'm not thinking tactically like that. I'm just capturing the pokemon that seem interesting. Although I don't think capturing is the right word."

"What?"

"It's a mutual partnership, I didn't _force_ any of the Pokemon I have to come with me, I _let _them."

_EXCUSE ME, BOSS? _Pikachu shouted in his mind. _You __'l__et__'__ me come with you, is that how you interpret it?_

"Ah..." Calem seemed caught off guard. _That...that's a really good reason. But how can she connect to wild pokemon on such a level? It takes trainers weeks to build the required trust so Pokemon don't just run away..._

"Sycamore said it doesn't matter how we do it, "Satori said. Calem shrugged in response and the group continued on its way. It took them about nine days until they finally reached the end. Fairly good time allowing for a few misdirections, but Satori vowed never to go back through it. It was not a fun experience.

As the group stepped out of the cave, a series of cascading pings came from all of their Holo Casters. They looked at each other for a moment in surprise.

"Must of had no reception in the cave," Trevor offered.

Satori and the others pulled out their Holo Casters, and the image of Professor Sycamore appeared as a hologram in front of her.

"Hello, my students!" The hologram said. "You should be in Shalour Town right about now, and I would like you to go visit the _Mega Evolution Guru. _She'll be in the Tower of Mastery. I think she will offer you valuable information on mega evolution you can use to continue your research. Good luck, and enjoy yourselves."

The transmission cut out after that brief message.

"Well then," Tierno said, "I guess we have direction."

The "Tower of Mastery" as Sycamore had called it was fairly easy to spot. There was a massive spire at the North end of Shalour, which was a moderate-sized town although smaller than Cyllage. Satori insisted the group head to the pokemon center first and no one protested, but after they sorted themselves out (and Satori took a shower), the group reconvened to head to the tower.

There was a long entrance to the tower in some sort of cove or bay, as the ocean could be seen beyond it. They had to walk on sand to get there with water surrounding them on either side. The tower itself looked like it was a tourist attraction and there were numerous people outside, but few actually ventured through the large doorway.

Satori barged through the doors without a care in the world, the rest of her group quick on her heels. The inside of the spire was a massive chamber with an equally massive statue in the center. Satori had a feeling the statue was of some type of pokemon, but she had never seen it before so she couldn't place it. It looked somewhat human, although with the head of a rat, maybe? It was hard to tell.

There were two people talking next to the statue, and old woman and a young woman. As the group of five entered the two women turned to face them.

"Yes, can I help you?" The old woman asked.

"Hi, we're uh, looking for the guru?" Calem asked.

"Aha, that's me." The old woman replied. "And this here is my daughter Korrina. She's the gym leader here."

At that, the younger woman smiled and gave a little salute. "I'll be looking forward to seeing you guys in my gym!" She then sped out of the building on roller skates. They all watched her go. As she left, the guru gestured for them to follow her into a small room under the statue.

There were a few chairs but not enough for everybody. Calem and Tierno remained standing while the rest of them sat down, the guru sitting in her own chair. She sipped from a cup of coffee before speaking.

"You're Sycamore's kids then, right?"

They nodded.

"Well, I'm the Mega Evolution Guru. People think of me as a sort of expert on the topic, although that's not quite true. The scientists researching it know far more about it than me. I just know how to put it into practice."

"Put it into practice?" Calem asked. The guru nodded.

"Mega evolution, unlike normal evolution, is only temporary. It lasts for a few minutes, greatly increasing a pokemon's strength and appearance before it wears off and they return to normal. It gives a Pokemon that _oomph _needed to capture victory from the jaws of defeat." The woman was smiling. "We can induce this mega evolution at will, with the right equipment.

"First is the mega ring, worn by the trainer. Second is a mega stone, held by the pokemon. When the trainer and pokemon have a good enough bond, the pokemon will be able to mega evolve when the trainer activates the ring. Times vary on how long it lasts, but it's always long enough for most fights."

"That's so cool," said Shauna. "So Pokemon get all, like, super strong and stuff?"

The guru nodded and started speaking again, but Satori was distracted by a rub against her leg. She looked down to see Absol by her feet. It looked up at Satori, and Satori knelt down and got close. No one really paid her any attention—they were focused on the guru's lecture.

"What's wrong, girl?" Satori whispered.

_It seems wrong, _she said. _I don't like it._

Satori couldn't speak directly to Absol in front of everyone else, so she tried to gesture for the Absol to elaborate. She got the message.

_This...mega evolution. It feels unnatural. Pushing us past our limits, to evolutions beyond what naturally occur? It seems the sort of thing that one should only use in the most dire of circumstances. When all other options have been exhausted and our very lives are on the line. Not something to use in such...pointless sparring amongst friends._

Satori wanted to engage the Absol in a dialogue, but couldn't do so in front of the others. Instead she just shrugged, and stood back up to face the others. When she did, she suddenly felt on the spot. Everyone was staring at her.

"What?" She asked.

Calem sighed. "There's only one ring, so we're going to battle for it. Were you not listening?"

"We are? Uh, okay." Satori felt caught a little off guard, but if he wanted to battle then so be it. Everyone left the small room back out towards the larger hall of the Tower of Mastery, and cleared the way to give Calem and Satori plenty of room for their battle.

Satori had four pokemon in her roster, Calem had three. A slight advantage, although one of Satori's pokemon was _Wobbuffet, _and she was less than enthusiastic about its combat capabilities.

_Hmmm. _Calem thought, and Satori rudely intruded on said thoughts. _I'll open with Absol, that'll throw her off guard._ Satori was surprised he had an Absol, but instead of matching up hers against his, Satori thought she would mix things up.

To face off against Calem's Absol, Satori threw out Wobbuffet.

"Wobba wobba!"

Calem looked less than amused, and Satori just started laughing. "Er," Calem said, "I'm going to feel bad about bullying your Wobbuffet, Satori."

"_Wobba wobba!" _It sounded kind of miffed.

"Yeah, you tell him Wobby!" Satori shouted. Calem rolled his eyes and ordered his Absol to attack. The Absol gingerly walked up to the Wobbuffet, which didn't react much. Then the Absol outstretched his paw and in a quick motion slashed across the Wobbuffet's body. Wobbuffet leaned back from the force, and time seemed to hold still for a moment.

Then the Wobbuffet slammed back towards the Absol with way more momentum than physics would dictate. Calem's Absol didn't have time to react as the Wobbuffet slammed into it, knocking it back towards its trainer. The Absol couldn't get it's footing and tumbled towards Calem's feet.

"Oh my god..." The words were Satori's. "Er, ahem, I mean. Didn't expect that one, haha!"

"Wobba!"

Calem hesitantly approached his Absol. It looked down and out, and Calem withdrew it back into its pokeball. _Crap, I didn't expect that one. Attacking that pokemon is going to be really dangerous...I guess I'll keep away from physical attacks then._

"Go, Meowstic." Calem shouted, throwing his Pokeball. Out of it popped a small, cat-like pokemon. Satori thought it looked _elegant, _in a way. "Use Psybeam."

The battlefield took on a strange set of colors that merged into the vague shape of a beam aimed at Wobbuffet. It didn't seem to be all that effective on its own, but as Satori looked at it it seemed to be having trouble. Even thought it responded in force against Absol's attack, it still took heavy damage from it.

Satori recalled the Wobbuffet, who had by all means outperformed. Satori next sent out Braixen to engage against the small psychic cat pokemon. The fighting was rather typical, although Satori's Braixen was her strongest pokemon so it had the advantage. With Satori's help, it defeated the Meowstic.

Calem's next pokemon was no mystery, so Satori recalled her Braixen and sent out Pikachu against it. The type advantage led Satori to snag a crushing defeat against Calem, the Pikachu quite proud of himself. While the fight would have been far more difficult months ago, Pikachu had acquired a good array of electrical attacks that stopped the water-type Frogadier in its tracks.

Calem fell to his knees. "Dammit...I didn't even...I hardly laid a scratch on you..."

Satori smiled. "Better train harder then if you want to defeat me."

"Let's be honest," Tierno cut in. "None of us expected the Wobba-slam! That pretty much decided it right then and there."

The post-battle excitement lasted for a little bit, but the guru calmed us down and approached Satori. In her hands she had a somewhat large bracelet. "Well, as promised," the guru said. "Here's the mega evolution ring. It'll allow you to mega-evolve your Absol, although your other pokemon aren't capable."

But Satori held up her hand in refusal, shaking her head. "No thanks."

"I'm sorry?"

"I don't need it, you can give it to Calem. The only Pokemon I have that can mega-evolve is Absol, right?"

"Well yes, but—"

"She doesn't want to, so I wouldn't end up using it." Satori said. "Give it to Calem, he'll get some real use out of it I'm sure."

Instead of looking happy, Calem just looked a bit angry. _Dammit, is she taking pity on me? If I accept then I look bad, but if I refuse I just look like a stuck up kid. Damn her._ Calem turned his head away from Satori as he took the ring out of the guru's hands.

"Well then, Calem." The guru said. "Before you can learn how to induce mega evolution, you'll have to beat our city's gym. You'll see my daughter there, although you've met her before right?"

Calem nodded. "We met on the road a few times."

"Right, right. Once you get the Rumble Badge then come back here, and she'll tell you what to do. As for you, Miss Satori." The guru stepped closer to Satori. "You must have a very strong bond with your Absol to communicate on such a level. That's a wondrous thing."

Satori just nodded. Was she supposed to say "thank you" in this situation? She didn't know.

"If there's nothing else, I'll let you guys be on your way." The guru said. Everyone looked around at each other, and decided to do what the guru said and left the tower. The walk back to the main part of the city was only a few minutes, but Calem stayed quiet during the entire time. His focus was mostly on the mega evolution ring.

His thoughts were a bit muddy, Satori noticed. He had this contradictory thought process where he was glad he had the ring, but he was sad because he hadn't truly earned it. It was a strange sort of guilt, one Satori induced on purpose. She tried not to smile too sadistically as she thought about their next battle. If she beat him when he used a mega evolution, he'd never live it down.

The group decided to part ways for the evening and meet at the gym the next day to battle Korrina. Satori headed to the pokemon center to heal her pokemon from her battle with Calem while the others went off and did their own things. She didn't really listen to their plans when they voiced them.

Satori spent most of the early evening sitting leisurely in an outdoor cafe, sipping tea with her pokemon. The waitress had stood by patiently while Satori debated going for tea or coffee, but Satori ultimately flipped a coin when it was clear the waitress was getting impatient. So milk tea she drank.

Braixen sat across from her, far too small for her chair but it made her seem cute. Or at least Satori thought so. Pikcahu was rolling back and fourth on the table, Absol was sleeping at Satori's feet and Wobbuffet was just sort of standing there next to the table. Its large body rocked back and fourth with the wind. It seemed oddly soothing, watching it.

"Wobba wobba."

_Doesn't he say anything else, _Pikachu commented.

Satori didn't respond to Pikachu, but he had a valid point. Satori hadn't thought of it up until the point she met Wobby, but so far all the Pokemon she had met had intelligible thoughts. This in of itself wasn't fascinating, Pokemon have been shown time and time again to be highly intelligent. Satori had been a bit surprised that _all of them _had been able to think in actual language though. Enough to communicate complex ideas.

Normal animals couldn't quite reach the point of language, although Satori could still communicate with them fine through instinct and basic ideas. Wobbuffet seemed to fall into this category, judging by its thoughts, although it felt a bit off. Still, it seemed happy enough so Satori was content to let Wobby do its thing.

The next day, Satori found herself standing outside the Shalour Gym with Calem and the others. She was not happy.

"What do you mean I have to _rollerblade _inside?"

The portly man at the entrance seemed uncomfortable at Satori's complaining, but his response was always the same. To enter Korrina's gym, you have to put on roller skates and skate around a large rink to get to her.

"That's dumb."

"Jesus, Satori." Calem said. "Just suck it up and put them on."

Satori begrudgingly sat down and strapped the gym-issued rollerblades to her feet. They were well kept, but Satori still didn't really want to do it. Apparently every gym leader decided to make some elaborate course to pester their challengers. Satori decided she'd just have to deal with it.

Apparently _spectators _were exempt from that requirement, since Shauna, Tiermo and Trevor happily walked towards the stands surrounding the central area where Korrina stood.

"Whoever gets there first gets to battle first," Calem said. He then took off on the rollerblades to travel the course. Satori tried to follow behind him, but only made it about ten feet before she fell down on her arm.

"Eeiiiaa!" Satori uttered in pain. A few people looked over, but she waved them away and pulled herself back up. Unlike everyone else who was gliding around the track as if they were floating on air, Satori was wobbling worse than her Wobbuffet. No one outwardly mocked her for it, but she still felt embarrassed.

The gym mostly looped around with concentric circles. There were long bars for grinding on to get closer to Korrina, but Satori wasn't nearly at the level required for that. There was a "long way" around that she was forced to take, and by the time she managed to make it Calem had already started battling Korrina. She ended up falling four times.

Satori ended up sitting cross-legged as she watched Calem fight Korrina. She diligently tried to pay attention to what pokemon Korrina used so she could plan accordingly. Hopefully she went into this battle actually prepared, unlike when she faced against Grant.

Calem ended up winning the battle, and everyone clapped at the end. He and Korrina exchanged a few words although Satori was too far away to make out what they were. Eventually they shook hands and Calem left the arena towards the stands. Now it was Satori's turn.

Before the battle began, Korrina spent a few minutes reviving her pokemon and bringing them back up to peak condition so she could battle again. Finally, she stood ready to face Satori.

"Sorry about that," Korrina said. "It's not often I face two challengers in a row."

Satori shook her head. "Don't worry about it."

"So, you're the girl who gave up the mega ring huh? Miss Satori. I can't say I expected that."

Satori shrugged but otherwise didn't respond. Korrina pulled out her first pokeball and Satori did the same. Korrina's first pokemon was Mienfoo, a fighting type. Satori smiled and sent out Wobbuffet.

"Wobba wobba!" The pokemon shouted, as per usual. Satori wasn't sure what to expect from Korrina, but the look on her face was actually _proud. _

_Impressive choice, _Korrina thought. _Most people overlook Wobbuffet's usefulness, but it's really the bane of this gym. I'm surprised this girl knew that. I don't really have a choice except to attack it._

Satori didn't actually know that, she just liked the blue pokemon. But she knew it _now. _She felt kind of bad that Korrina was intentionally playing into her tactic, but it wasn't unreasonable to assume the leaders went easy on people who didn't have many badges.

Mienfoo attacked Wobbuffet in a strange way and Satori didn't quite catch what happened. Neither did her pokemon, and its counter attack didn't land. Korrina chuckled at Satori's confused look.

"That move's called Fake-Out." Korrina explained. "It'll only work once."

Sure enough, the Mienfoo followed up with a hard punch into Wobbuffet, but this time the blue pokemon bounced back and smacked Mienfoo hard, ending the round right then and there. Korrina called back the pokemon, and sent out her next—Machoke.

The Machoke didn't come right after the Wobbuffet, instead reaching over the side of the arena. Satori didn't know what it was doing until it pulled out a giant boulder from beneath and threw it at Wobbuffet.

"W-W-What?" Satori shouted as she ran away. The boulder smacked into Wobbuffet and knocked it unconscious. "Where the hell did that come from?"

Satori recalled her Wobbuffet and sent out Absol in its place. The Absol carefully began approaching the large Machoke. The Machoke grabbed another boulder and tried the same tactic, but Satori saw this one coming and directed the Absol out of the boulder's path. Absol used the opportunity to charge the Machoke and land a solid hit against it. Satori could sense the amount of damage Machoke had sustained through his thoughts, and wasn't focused on his next attack. It was a strong punch, and it hit Absol right in the torso. The Absol fell back, but was still able to fight.

Before Absol could land another hit though, Machoke punched it again and the Absol was down. Satori was starting to feel like her Absol was of the "glass cannon" variety. Satori recalled her Absol and fingered her third pokeball, but didn't send it out immediately.

"Hey, Korrina, do you know why I rejected the mega ring even though I had claim to it?" Satori shouted, timing her taunt with the throw of her pokeball. Out popped Braixen. Korrina just looked puzzled, so Satori continued. "Absol thought it sounded painful. Something that should only be used when her life is in serious danger."

Satori was pleased to see her Braixen make her move as Satori spoke. They understood each other well enough such that Braixen knew when Satori was trying to distract her opponents. And Satori could hear Korrina's mind and sense her fears. Her taunt wasn't spot on, but it uncovered a kernel of trauma that Satori grabbed onto.

Braixen had caused flames to surround the Machoke, slowly inflicting damage. It looked like the fire was dancing around the Machoke, slowly nipping at its stamina. But Satori was focused on Korrina.

"Doesn't it bother you, Korrina?" Satori shouted enough so everyone could hear. "Mega evolution is a new, untested and relatively unknown field. How do you know that you aren't causing permanent damage to your pokemon every time you use it? Braixen, _now._"

The ploy worked perfectly, and Braixen charged the Machoke surrounded by flames. The Machoke was hit and fainted, Braixen standing victorious. Korrina recalled the pokemon, but her hands trembled. Satori couldn't help but smile a little bit.

"H-How did you realize that?" Korrina said rather quietly. It was hard to make out. "You're right, we _don't _know if there are any long-term effects."

"I don't see how you can justify doing that to your pokemon," Satori said. "Your _friends._"

Korrina started shaking her head back and fourth to get her bearings, and then tossed out her last pokemon. Hawlucha. It was a strange type of pokemon, a fighting/flying hybrid with bright green and red feathers. Braixen managed to light it up with fire spin, but the Hawlucha dived down and took down the Braixen.

But this was acceptable. Satori sent out her last pokemon, Pikachu, which had significant type advantage. Korrina's thoughts, Satori was pleased to see, were still distracted on what Satori had brought up. It was enough so that Pikachu didn't come into any real trouble as it took down Hawlucha, although most of that was the type advantage.

Korrina recalled her pokemon. "Congratulations, Miss Satori." She pulled out the box that was starting to become familiar now, and handed it towards Satori. Satori grabbed it and opened it, seeing exactly what she expected. A badge, a TM, and a solid amount of cold, hard cash. The badge was strange, Satori couldn't quite make out what it was supposed to be. But she just shrugged and stuck it into her nice case.

"That was mean," Korrina said as Satori looked over the spoils. "You distracted me."

"It seems to work fairly reliably for winning." Satori said offhandedly.

"It isn't exactly in the _spirit _of the game, but to each there own." Korrina paused for a moment and looked up at the stands, where Calem was shifting uncomfortably. "I think your shouting is causing your little friend to have second thoughts about mega evolution."

Satori followed her gaze to Calem, who kind of smiled and waved when he realized he was being stared at. "He should." Satori said simply.

Korrina just nodded silently for a moment before turning back to Satori. "The TM is Power-Up Punch, by the way. You probably didn't notice it, but it raises the attack power of the pokemon who uses it after every punch. It's very useful for fights that stretch on for a long time." Korrina paused. "Now if you'll excuse me, alak, alay, I must be on my way!"

Satori raised her brow at the strange salutation as Korrina jetted off on her roller blades. Satori just shrugged, and held her new badge up to the light to admire it before setting it into her pack. The Rumble Badge.


	7. Grass

_Satori in Kalos_

**Chapter 7  
><strong>**Grass**

"Ah, isn't this nice Satori? The refreshing sea breeze, the shining sun, the green grass."

Satori closed her eyes and let the breeze blow her hair around her face. "It is nice, although I'm concerned with how we're going to get across this river."

"It's a delta, not a river." Trevor chimed in.

"Okay, I'm concerned with how we're going to get across this _delta." _

Satori and her companions hadn't walked more than a few minutes out of Shalour City when the ocean came into view. It had been hidden for the most part from the rocks surrounding Shalour, but once they left the city it stretched out in all its majesty. However, there was no way to progress on Route 12 without crossing the delta. They could see the other side, but it was too far to swim comfortably.

"How about we use _that _to cross the delta?" Calem said, pointing towards a small shack built on the beach. The signboard read "Lapras Rides: 500P per person," and there was a thin man with a dark tan standing behind a counter.

"Well of course we're going to use _that."_

After handing the tan man the appropriate amount, he handed each of them a blue pokeball. There was a place they could return them on the other side of the river. They all tossed their balls out in sequence, and five Lapras appeared. They all climbed on, and the Lapras seemed to know exactly where to go so there was no need to direct them.

The swimming Lapras was soothing. It gently rocked back and fourth as Satori rested against its long neck. The ride was slow, and took about an hour to reach the other side. It wasn't boring though, it was nice to just gently rock against the ocean waves.

Satori's arm was for the most part healed, although it still hurt on occasion. There were some serious-looking scars that would fade away in time, but for now it really marred her skin. There was nothing she could do about that.

The Lapras made it to the other side in due time, and everyone recalled them into the blue pokeballs and walked them back to the shop. The cashier this time was a woman, who took the balls and thanked them for their business.

"So," Calem said. "Onward to adventure I guess."

Satori was remiss to discover "adventure" was a farm. The Baa de Mer Ranch was incredibly large, and although there was a low fence surrounding the property it stretched off far into the distance. Satori figured that this ranch must stretch hundreds of acres.

Frolicking amongst the grass—for no other phrase quite described it—were numerous Skiddo, a goat-like pokemon. Satori decided to just walk past the barn house and travel along the road, although she heard Trevor's thoughts about how he wanted to ride one. She decided to just ignore it and keep the group moving.

The road was long but ultimately uneventful. It cut through wide expanses of plains which were stunning at first, but quickly grew tiresome. Farmland wasn't all that interesting to Satori.

"So, Satori~" Shauna said. "How close are you with your pokemon?"

Satori looked down at her three pokemon at the question. Absol, Braixen and Pikachu could easily keep up with the group's pace, but Wobbuffet couldn't. Satori didn't want to exclude it, but regrettably convenience had to take priority.

"They saved my life," Satori said rubbing her arm where she had been bitten.

Shauna looked taken aback at the kind of seriousness of which Satori replied. "Oh, uh, that's pretty close then..." _I don't think my Furfrou would do that for me._ "I'm asking because, well, I'm thinking of what you were saying back at the tower of mastery."

Satori noticed Calem's thoughts drifting towards the potential dangers of mega evolution that she had brought up back at the gym. He seemed reserved about using it, with good reason to be. "What part, exactly?" Satori asked.

"You said your Absol didn't want to mega-evolve. I'm amazed that you're close enough to be able to know something like that. I have trouble figuring out whether my Furfrou is hungry or not."

"Mmmm..." Satori muttered. She didn't want to reveal the real reason, she had tried that with Calem and it didn't work out very well. "Well, pokemon are more than just animals." Satori finally said. "Some are just as smart as you and I, others probably smarter. They have goals and desires all of their own. My pokemon trust me to help them out and support them, and I trust them to do the same."

Calem chimed in at this point. "So you know what each of your pokemon wants? That's a crazy level of connectedness, I'm not sure I can believe that."

"Braixen wants to broaden her horizons and experience the world. Pikachu wants to become stronger than any other pokemon. Absol is trying to prevent a future disaster. Wobbuffet—well, I'll admit I'm not sure what Wobbuffet wants. My guess at the moment is he just wants to have fun."

"That's amazing!" Shauna exclaimed.

"No way." Calem said. "No way you actually figured that out. You'd have to be able to _speak _with them to know that."

Satori shrugged. "Maybe I'm lying. Or maybe I'm just that much better than you at being a trainer."

Calem didn't engage Satori in any further conversation on the topic, although Shauna picked up where he left off. Satori always deflected and gave non-answers if anyone asked how exactly she learned this information. She hoped no one noticed her evasiveness.

The walk to the next town took days and they didn't run into a single wild pokemon. They didn't actually stray away from the road so it wasn't too surprising, but Satori thought it would have broken up into tall grass at some point. It never did though, and before they knew it they arrived in Coumarine City.

The part of the city that the route opened onto was not so much of a city as it was a port. There were lines of ships docked to Satori's left, with low buildings and market stands on the right. It was a fish market, and surprisingly active. A plethora of thoughts rushed into Satori's head as she and her party walked into the marketplace. And on top of the noise was the smell, which all of them disliked.

"So, do you guys want to split up then?" Shauna asked.

Calem rubbed his chin. "I suppose. Satori, when did you plan on challenging the gym?"

"Tomorrow." Satori said. Then she added, "Probably. I'll do some preliminary research on the leader first."

"Smart. We should all meet in front of the gym tomorrow then." With that, the group broke up and went on their own ways.

Satori did her best to walk away as fast as possible from the fish market. She originally headed into what she thought would turn out to be the inner city, but that was a false assumption. There was a large hill that was impassable and Coumarine City literally was just a port. As far as she could tell.

It was strange, though. Satori couldn't even find a hotel or a pokemon center. Certainly not the gym, which she _knew _existed. She had a nagging suspicion that she was only seeing part of the city, and the rest was hidden somewhere. But by the life of her she couldn't find out where.

She ended up running around for over an hour trying to find the rest of the city when she finally decided to do the easy thing, and just ask somebody. There was only one place in the fish market which was relatively peaceful, an incense shop. It was actively burning its products—for advertising purposes, Satori suspected—which generated a nice aroma around the stand.

"Welcome, young miss. Can I interest you in some incense? We have a wide range of different scents, I'm sure you'll find some that please you."

Satori shook her head. "Sorry, I'm trying to find the Pokemon Center."

The shopkeeper started laughing. "I'm not surprised you're lost, most newcomers are. We really need to do something about that." The man adjusted his collar. "The rest of Coumarine—yes, I said the rest—is on the other side of the hill. It's only accessible by the monorail on the far east side of the city."

"I knew there was more to this city." Satori said. "Thank you."

"No problem. And remember, if you're in need of any pleasant aromas, you know where to come!"

Satori headed to the eastern part of the docks, and sure enough there was a small monorail station. The service was complementary, although Satori would rather it have been well advertised. Still, she opened the wooden door to the station. She was greeted with two people she did not expect to see.

"Ah, my promising student Satori." Rung the voice of Professor Sycamore. "I've been waiting to see you."

"Professor!" Satori exclaimed.

"Allow me to introduce you to Diantha. She's the Kalos Pokemon Champion, as well as a very prominent actress in Lumoise."

The woman stretched her hand out and Satori shook it. "Nice to meet you, Miss Satori." Satori nodded.

Sycamore waited until Satori and Diantha finished their formalities before speaking. "Well then," he said finally, "I suppose I'll get right to it. I talked with the guru, I'm glad you guys went to see her. But you couldn't possibly imagine my surprise when I heard that you turned down the offer for the ring, Satori."

"Ah, that was—"

"No no, no need to justify your actions. Your decision is a sound one, who are we to say what is the best course of action? The dangers of mega-evolution are very possible indeed, although from a scientific standpoint I will state that currently there is no evidence to suggest there are any adverse long-term effects. But we are on the very border of knowledge, and we have not yet witnessed repeated mega-evolution for more than a year at most. There simply hasn't been enough time for a longitudinal study."

"I'm surprised as well, Miss Satori." Diantha said smiling. "You may find that lacking the ability to mega-evolve your pokemon will prove to be a major handicap. I won't lie, I use it. If you hope to face me at the end of victory road someday, be prepared for it."

"Ahaha, very true." Sycamore said. "But no gym leader will use it. The only one who _can_ is Korrina, but she's decided it's not fair to do so in official matches." The professor paused for a moment. "Oh, look at me rambling on. Satori, since we're here, I thought I would answer any questions you might have."

Satori had to think about that one for a moment. She was caught off guard by the prompt for questions since she didn't really have any. Though she remembered that one inquiry she had before she got attacked.

"Can you tell me about Geosenge?"

"Ah, that's an interesting one." Sycamore nodded his head. "I assume you mean the rock formations and why Pokemon act strangely around them."

Satori nodded.

"Well, the specifics can be found in numerous publications. The basic idea is that there is a psychic resonance between the stones that pokemon respond to. We know a lot about the resonance itself, but we have yet to find a cause for why it occurs only there."

"Is it harmful? Because I liked it there."

"Not in the least, though Pokemon don't seem to like it." Sycamore was going to go on, but Diantha gestured to interrupt him.

"Sorry, but I have to be going." Diantha turned to walk out of the station, but before she left she turned to Satori. "I hope to see you in my hall, one day."

Satori and the professor watched her go. After she left, Sycamore turned back to Satori. "I can refer you to some books on the matter. Is there anything else?"

Satori shrugged. "There hasn't really been anything pressing, I don't think." She said. Sycamore nodded.

There was a bit of an awkward silence. Satori could hear Sycamore gathering his thoughts though, making it less awkward.

"Forgive me for dispensing a bit of wisdom on you, Satori." He started. "But as a professor it is sort of my role. We scientists—there is a question we love to ask. It's what we live for. A question so simple that most people overlook it, but it is a question that can slay monsters and topple gods. You seem to have an innate nature for asking it."

Satori looked at him questioningly. "I do? That seems dramatic enough that I would notice."

Sycamore laughed. "Perhaps I gave it flare, but the sentiment stands. The question is, quite simply, _why. _We ask why things are they way they are. Why people do this, why they do that. Why Pokemon think and act the way they do. The simple act of asking _why _makes learning the answer possible. And if we know why..." Sycamore spread his arms wide. "...we can move the world."

"Sorry," Satori said. "I don't really get what you mean."

"Indeed. For all its simplicity, _really _understanding what I just said is rare in people." Sycamore sighed. "It's not that they're not capable, they just don't seem to care. It saddens me. In any case, I hope you at least remember it."

"I will."

Sycamore smiled and bid goodbye to Satori shortly after, some business to tend to. Satori watched him go before boarding the monorail to the lower part of Coumarine. The ride was short, no more than ten minutes, and when she arrived it was clear this was the _real _town.

She found the Pokecenter without too much trouble and checked into a room. She spent the rest of the day playing and training with her pokemon before turning in for the night. The next day was bright and sunny like the day before it, and Satori walked to the gym.

Standing in front of the gym was Calem, but none of the others. He waved as he saw her. "Hey, Satori." He said. "Glad you made it."

"Mmhmm."

"The others haven't arrived yet."

"I gathered."

"I hate you."

Satori turned to face him. "I figured," she said, "but what brought that on?"

"You just had to _say something. _I was perfectly content with getting the mega ring and finally dabbling in some mega evolution. And then you go and _ruin it forever." _Calem didn't seem truly angry, it was more like he was venting. "I spent the entire walk debating whether or not it's worth using mega evolution."

"It's like you were given a cookie and I ripped it from your hands and licked it first," Satori said.

"Basically."

"Glad to be of service."

Satori and Calem spend the next fifteen minutes or so standing in relative silence. Calem pulled out his holo caster and started doing miscellaneous things on it. The point being "we don't really have anything to say to each other so let's distract ourselves."

Shauna arrived first, followed shortly by Tierno and Trevor. With the entire cast finally here, they decided to head into the gym. Satori was the first to comment.

"Not another tower!"

"Well, have fun you guys." Tierno said. "Us spectators will just go use that convenient elevator over there to the audience seating."

"So you three have just given up all pretense of collecting badges then?"

Instead of answering they happily trotted off to the elevator, leaving Satori and Calem to the obstacle in front of them. The tower was different than the one back in Cyllage in that there was no rock climbing involved. No, instead they had to climb up vines. Satori had a feeling one of these gyms was ripping off the other.

Unlike Cyllage, however, this tower was very brightly illuminated in a white light. The tower's construction was of white material, and on it grew bright green vegetation. It was suitable for a grass-type gym.

Calem shot up the vines and up the tower before Satori could even pretend to follow in his wake. He was definitely more physically fit than her, she couldn't deny that. Sighing, she grabbed the first vine and began to pull herself up the first wall to the next level of the tower.

She didn't make it up more than halfway before a sharp pain shot through her left arm. Caught by the sudden shock, she let go and fell to the ground. Luckily there was padding so she wasn't hurt. Except for the arm.

"_Dammit." _Satori cursed under her breath and inspected her arm. There was nothing visually wrong, but that didn't stop it from hurting. The pain subsided quickly enough, but if she had to endure that sort of pain then this gym was going to be way harder than she predicted. And she didn't like the idea of putting that much strain on it anyways.

The next thought Satori had was to be clever and have her pokemon assist her. But she couldn't think of a way any of them could actually help, which scrapped that idea. And there was no way she was going to ask for _special assistance, _even though Satori had a feeling it was available for disabled trainers.

So she decided to fight the pain and climb it anyways. She took special care to favor her right arm as much as possible, but after each climb to the next level she had to take a break. "God damn Team Flare and their god damn orange jumpsuits." Satori spat through her teeth as she climbed the fourth vine. "I swear if I ever see them again I'm going to stab somebody."

By the time Satori made it halfway up, it was fairly clear that Calem had already finished his battle and left. This only generated more streams of curses from her lips as she climbed up the next vines. After an inordinate amount of time, she finally reached the top. Before even looking at the gym leader, she turned towards the audience to see if her companions even bothered to stick around.

They had. Satori wasn't sure if that made her happy.

With that, Satori turned back towards the gym leader. He was an old man in dark green clothing. "Hello, young miss." The leader said. "I'm Ramos. How did you like my garden?"

"I don't like climbing." Satori said.

The man walked over. Despite being old, it was clear he wasn't frail. Satori had a feeling he climbed up here every day on his own accord. "That's a shame," he said. "This gym here, you may find it trivial or immensely difficult depending on the pokemon at your disposal. If I may, how many badges have you collected up to this point?"

"Three."

"Ahhh...so then if you win against me, you will have collected half the badges in Kalos. That would be very impressive, whippersnapper. Are you up to the task?"

Satori nodded and brought out her roster. First up was Braixen.

Satori's battle, as it turns out, fell into the first category of Ramos's explanation. A fire type wasn't threatened at all by a grass type, and Satori's Braixen cleaned up. It was clear that Ramos wasn't giving it his all, although he did his best to play it smart. Still, Satori couldn't help but think limiting oneself to a single type was extremely detrimental.

It didn't even feel like a victory, it felt like bullying. Or at least it would have if Ramos wasn't holding back. But Satori could tell. She was going to press him on it but before she could she looked towards her Braixen. It was glowing.

"My my," Ramos said. "It seems your pokemon is evolving."

Satori watched in wonder as her Braixen glowed white, and then grew larger and reformed before the white faded away. Standing in its place was a pokemon that looked very similar, but somehow more mature. Satori pulled out her pokedex.

"Delphox. Using physic power it can generate localized vortexes of up to 5400 degrees Farenheit."

_Master, _Delphox said, _I feel different. _

"Delphox?" Satori said out loud. Ramos was still in earshot so she didn't make it obvious she was talking with it. However, apparently the effort was wasted.

_Master, I...I can hear you. Your thoughts, I mean..._

_What? _Satori communicated. _You have a Third Eye now?_

_N...no, it's...I can consciously focus on you and listen to your surface thoughts. It's not quite what you describe._

_But you can hear me without me speaking? That makes things ridiculously convenient. _Satori said to her Delphox. _We'll have to train with this, we can cut down reaction times tenfold._

"Ahem," Ramos said. "Is something wrong, miss?"

Satori looked up to realize Ramos was holding out a wooden box. Satori had not taken it, and she blushed as she took it. "No, nothing, sorry. Thanks." Satori opened the box and took a gander at the badge. It looked like a leaf.

"That's the plant badge," Ramos explained. "And of course your complementary TM comes with it with a sizable sum of cash. There is a lift behind me that will take you back down to the ground floor. Congratulations."

Satori smiled and headed towards the lift, sticking her new badge into her case. She was eager to train with Delphox and see the range of is new abilities. It made her immensely happy that Delphox could listen to her thoughts. It was such an unexpected bonus. And after such an easy gym battle it felt somewhat undeserved.

She found Calem and the others in the entrance of the gym.

"Woo, that was easy." Satori said. "Is it bad that I derived a lot of pleasure from lighting those grass pokemon on fire?"

"Probably," Tierno said with a smile. "But that's pokemon for you!"

"_Ahem," _Trevor interrupted. "The actual point is that unless you have some really clever tactics going face-to-face can be crushingly difficult or trivially easy. It can come down to luck..." Trevor slid his glance towards Calem. It took awhile for Satori to realize he looked down.

_Don't rub it in, Trevvs... _Calem thought. Satori made the connection quickly—he _lost. _A wide smile drew across Satori's face which Calem noticed. She didn't say anything though. Her silent, creepy smile said more than any taunt could.

"Screw you guys!" Calem said. "I'm going to kick Ramos's ass next week, just you wait."

The group laughed, and Satori was going to respond when she got a blip on her Holo Caster. She pulled it out while the others talked. It wasn't an audio message, it was text only.

_To: komeiji_satori (holocasternetwork)_

_From: Asycamore (Sycamorelabs)_

_Subject: Someone wants to meet you_

_Satori,_

_There is no rush, but one of my colleagues would like to talk to you. Well, perhaps colleague isn't the right term, but we're both scientists. She'll be in Lumiose for the next two weeks or so before she returns home, so if you can make it that would be wonderful._

_When I told her you refused mega-evolution, she took quite an interest in you. Sorry for revealing that if you didn't want it known, but it's kind of a bragging right for me! Haha!_

_Just head over to my lab and I'll introduce you two. Her name's Alice, and I've attached one of her papers. See if it interests you._

_Enjoy,_

_Sycamore_

Satori glanced up after reading the email, but her friends were still talking about something irrelevant. She shrugged and opened the attachment Sycamore had given her. It was a ten-page report titled "_A Trivial Understanding of Consciousness in Pokemon and Creating Artificial Poke-Intelligence._" Satori's first response was that it sounded incredibly dry, but the fact that it discussed consciousness worried Satori. Did this mysterious woman somehow _know _about Satori's ability? Her Third Eye?

Probably coincidence, Satori reasoned as she put away the Holo Caster. But still, it was worth investigating.

"Excuse me," Satori said. Her friends stopped their conversation. "Professor Sycamore wants me to come back to Lumoise."

"Really?" Calem asked. "Why?"

"Not exactly sure, he wants me to meet somebody. I imagine that you'll be staying here to prepare to take on Ramos again, so I'm just letting you know I'll be leaving."

"Wait, you can't do that." Tierno said. "South of here is the badlands—you can't cross that alone!"

"Why not?"

"It's called the _bad-_lands. It's clearly _terribly_ dangerous. Let me come with you."

"If you insist," Satori said. The rest of the party decided they would stay with Calem in Coumarine. Shauna said she didn't explore it nearly enough and Trevor gave as similar reason, although he used the phrase "research."

Satori and Tierno then made plans to set out the next day. Satori got all of her items together, and early in the morning set out to meet Tierno by the southern gate of Coumarine. He gave her a wave, and they set out to the south towards the badlands. Plenty of trees had been planted south of Coumarine to hide the view of the badlands, but they didn't have to walk more than twenty minutes before they came across them.

It was like the forest just stopped suddenly and everything _died. _Satori and Tierno stood atop a cliff, the bottom of which not a single thing lived. It was just dark brown-orange dirt. Worse, it looked to be extremely windy as large plumes of dirt were kicked up.

Tierno made a gesture to get Satori's attention. She looked over at him and saw he was holding up a pair of goggles and a bandana. "Here," he said. "You'll have to wear these."

"T-Thanks," she said and took them. The goggles fit surprisingly well, although the bandana was a tad large. It would do. "Let's go," she said after she suited up.

There was a well-made staircase leading town to the badlands, but that was where the convenience ended. There was no road, not even a pathway. The staircase just opened up to, well, the badlands.

Satori's pokemon decided they would not like to partake in this excursion, and Satori let them rest in their pokeballs. Tierno was happy to talk to Satori and didn't respond at all to her cutting remarks.

"So why did you decide to make a pokemon dance troupe? Not good enough to train them in combat?" Satori asked.

"Dancing is more fun." Tierno responded. Satori scanned his mind to see if her remarks cut deep into his soul, if he was hiding behind a mask of uncaring when his heart was truly broken by her words.

It wasn't. He was truly unphased by everything she threw at him—he didn't even think about it.

"I always watched Pokemon on TV and thought they looked super cool," Tierno followed up with. "I knew that if I could become a pokemon trainer, I wouldn't be interested so much in the combat aspect of it. I wanted to bring out that epic coolness that Pokemon have."

"A lot of people think that Pokemon shine brightest in combat. Combat is where they are coolest."

Tierno shook his head. "Maybe I'm not 'most people' then. I think creating a dance troupe of coordinated pokemon would be so cool. I applied to Scyamore Labs to be a trainer and told the professor this was my plan, and he accepted me as his student anyways. I think that was the happiest day of my life. So far."

This made Satori felt kind of bad. Learning she was accepted to be a trainer was _far _from her happiest day. She actually couldn't think of what her happiest day was, but being told she was a trainer wasn't it.

She knew what her _worst _day was though.

_That _particular day was far too vivid in her mind's eye.

Satori and Tierno traveled during most of the day. Even with the goggles and bandana around her face the wind and blowing sand still proved to be a major inconvenience. Satori really wanted a shower, but there was no way she could do that until she made it back to Lumiose.

It was at times like these she wished she had a water pokemon.

Sunset rolled by quickly enough, and Satori unpacked the tent. They couldn't really find a good place to pitch it, but if they dug the nails in deep enough the wind wouldn't blow it over. Satori learned the ins and outs of pitching a tent after the first few days of her journey, and they were very well designed. Satori was confident the tent could withstand a hurricane if it had to.

It was while Satori was hammering in the third nail that she felt something strange. The ground shifted beneath her feet, and she saw her other nails dislodge from the ground. It was strange, but Satori shrugged it off and continued to hammer in the nails.

Not a few hits later and the entire ground lurched beneath her feet and Satori suddenly found herself falling. The dirt collapsed all around her and Tierno was dragged down with her. Satori clamped her eyes shut and felt her body being knocked around by the dirt. It felt like just seconds before everything settled down again, and Satori hesitantly opened her eyes.

The dust obscured her entire vision, but as it cleared she could make out a tunnel leading into the darkness. Standing in this tunnel was a man in an orange jumpsuit, his hands holding an automatic rifle pointed in Satori's direction.


	8. Interlude II - Hakurei Reimu

_Satori in Kalos_

**Interlude II  
><strong>**Hakurei Reimu**

Hakurei Reimu sat behind her large wooden desk in her rather large office. For she _had _a desk, and she _had _and office, despite vehemently telling the chief she did not want them. Resting on this desk that was hers against her will was a sizable stack of paperwork which she was supposed to fill out. Reimu had no intention of doing so, deciding she would rather eat one of Shikieiki's lectures.

The office was the one place Reimu didn't want to be. All she really wanted to do was sit at home drinking tea and watch television. She often entertained the notion of moving out of Lumiose, out into the countryside somewhere to live a simple existence. Maybe as a shrine maiden. But alas, such a notion doesn't pay the bills. Bills which Reimu had plenty of, and money to pay them of which she had little.

Which is why she didn't object when the police chief promoted her to _Head of KPD __Special__ Operations _on competence alone. It came with a fat paycheck, which Reimu wanted, but also came with an office and desk, which Reimu had not wanted. It also came with responsibility, of which Reimu _really _had not wanted.

But she was undeniably competent. And it wasn't all that bad, incidents were few and far between that actually required her full attention. The Jennys (different department) handled the altercations involving pokemon, which was most of them. The others were usually minor infractions and local officers could take down the criminals by themselves and their own local leadership, even if the criminals were armed. It was on rare occasion that her division had to deploy in full force.

Reimu had a feeling today was one of those days.

Which is why she was actually in her office, instead of at home. Call it intuition, call it unconscious pattern-recognition, call it dumb luck. Reimu generally knew when her services were going to be needed and she became a bit of a bad omen in the office because of it. In the officers' words, when Reimu bothered to showed up they all knew "shit was going to go down."

Reimu spun around in her spinny-chair, waiting for something to happen. She did her best not to look at the paperwork on her desk. A few minutes went by in silence, and Reimu considered turning on her computer. But the instant she did, she knew she would be bombarded with hundreds of old emails probably requiring bureaucratic nonsense. So she opted to leave it turned off. Plausible deniability.

Before she could do anything else someone knocked on her door. Reimu perked up but didn't respond. The door swung open anyways and a woman in black-and-white clothing walked in.

"Yo, Reimu," said the intruder.

Reimu sighed. "Oh. _You."_

"Heard you actually showed up at your job. Had to see it to believe it."

Reimu pushed against her desk and the chair rolled back a few feet. "I _do _work, you know. Shikieiki doesn't pay me to do nothing."

"Could have fooled me."

"What exactly are _you _doing here? I don't remember seeing 'Marisa' on my roster of employees."

Marisa just smiled and made her way over to the couch, dropping down onto it longways. "I bet you didn't even read that roster," she said. "Anyways, Alice is in town so I thought I'd meet her."

"Who?"

"A friend, don't worry about it. Since I'm in town anyways, I thought I would drop by. I went to your apartment first, by the way."

Reimu sighed again. "Want me to go get us something to drink? We have a nice break room."

"Coffee, please."

"Decaf?"

"Hell no," Marisa said. "What kind of wuss do you take me for?"

There were a couple of other officers in the break room. They gave Reimu a wave and typical greeting before continuing their conversation. Reimu grabbed a coffee packet and stuck it in the machine before pressing the large "brew" button. She then took out a teabag for herself and began boiling some water.

The officers spoke to her while she waited. "Captain Hakurei," they addressed her. "Do you know what's happening today?"

Reimu shook her head. "No idea. Hopefully nothing."

"It's never just nothing. People around the office are thinking it has something to do with the power outages, although others think Team Flare probably escalated."

"What in god's name is Team Flare?"

The officer looked a bit put down. "Ah, er...right. I guess we'll just see what happens later. They're bad guys, by the way."

"Descriptive," Reimu said as she finished brewing her tea and Marisa's coffee. She walked back to her office, where she found Marisa crumpling up the paperwork on her desk and throwing it across the room into the waste bin. Judging by the amount of paper balls on the floor, she had an accuracy rate of 10%.

"Finally!" Marisa said, greedily taking her coffee from Reimu's hands. Reimu walked back behind her desk and sat down, sipping her own tea. The two of them sat and conversed about trivial things. It was an activity Reimu generally liked. A subtle conversation about nothing of any real meaning. Unfortunately the current setting diminished her enjoyment. The mere fact she was _in _her office added a certain amount of pressure and stress.

And it was not ill-founded stress either. Before Reimu had finished her cup of tea, the Holo Caster on her desk began to blink and make a beeping noise. Reimu reached over and pushed the button to answer the call. A rough holographic image of a short woman appeared in a large hat. The hologram was in shades of blue though, so her actual features were hard to distinguish.

"Hello, Shikieiki." Reimu said. "Bad news, I take it?"

"You're mobilizing to the power plant," she said sternly. "I'm on my way to your office. I'll be there in five minutes."

With that, she hung up. Reimu sat for a moment and took a long, final swig of her tea to finish it off. She stood up as she set the cup back on the table and made her way over to the left wall of her office, near the couch where Marisa was still sitting. On the wall was a heavy switch. Reimu threw it with no hesitation.

_WOO WOO...WOO WOO...WOO WOO..._

An alarm started sounding through the entire office, echoing throughout every corridor. Reimu briskly walked out of her office leaving Marisa behind.

"Everyone active, let's go." Reimu shouted loudly. It was a redundant statement, all the officers were already in motion from the alarm. Everyone reported to the armory and suited up in the standard-issue vests and equipment. Reimu's department was not affiliated with the Jennys nor did they use pokemon. They were a tactical unit and used real weapons.

Reimu arrived in the armory to see her officers mid-dress. She went to her locker and put on her bulletproof vest, grabbed an automatic rifle, pistol and a slew of other equipment before walking to the open area at the back of the armory.

"You," she shouted to one of the officers. He looked up. "Get me a floor plan of the power plant." The officer nodded and ran off.

Reimu waited while everyone went through their preparations and headed out to the garage. Most of the officers would get into the vans, but they also had two helicopters they would be using.

When everyone had left the armory, Reimu took a small ear bud and stuck it in her left ear. "Roll call," she dutifully listened until every last team had called in. Around the time they were finishing up, the Chief of Police Shikieiki Yamaxanadu walked into the armory.

"Reimu," she said as she approached. "Your teams ready?"

"Just about. What's happening?"

"Long story short, an organization of criminals identifying themselves as Team Flare invaded the power plant and took an unknown number of employees hostage. They're currently occupying the power plant and have been for some time now."

"Is that the cause of this damned blackout? How are we just learning about this _now?"_

Shikieiki crossed her arms. "It's isolated. Employees had shifts that lasted weeks, not hours. And we never looked too closely because it was always somebody else's problem. We didn't get a handle on the situation until we sent a few investigators after missing persons reports were filed. Reflecting on procedure can come later though. Your primary is rescuing the hostages above all else."

"Got it." Reimu said. "Rescue the hostages, stop the bad guys."

After a quick discussion of a few technical details, Shikieiki left Reimu to her work and went back to her office. After she left, Reimu headed down to the garage. "Roll call," she asked again. Everyone was ready this time.

"_Captain, I've distributed the blueprint to every team."_

"Good work." Reimu opened the door to the garage and made her way to one of the vehicles. All of the vans were ready to move, just waiting for her signal. She pulled herself into the van that was waiting for her and sat down next to the other seven people in full tactical gear. Reimu accessed the map on a computer in the van and glanced over the plans.

"Alright then. All teams to the Kalos Power Plant." At her words, the vans in the garage pulled out onto the streets of Lumiose, sirens wailing, heading north through Lumiose to the power plant. The road would cut out once they left the city, but the vans were designed for off road use.

Reimu looked over the map as they drove, making comments here and there to everyone else about what they could expect. The power plant was a very isolated structure, and just looking at the floor plan sickened Reimu to her stomach.

The power plant was located far in the dangerous part Lumiose badlands, only accessible through the four access corridors that led from the plant to the safer areas. The plant itself was in a dangerous and rocky region that only a fool would try to cross. Reimu reasoned that while this made surrounding it easy, actually entering the plant would be impossible.

The next thought that came to Reimu's mind was going in through the air, but until she knew more about the placement of people in the building she couldn't go ahead with that plan.

The last fact which really tied the whole mess together was that communications would fail if they came within a certain distance of the plant. Reimu didn't understand the exact reason, something about interference from the plant, but the implication was clear enough. They had to have a solid plan before they could start an assault.

Reimu's teams made it to the staging area and parked the vans, spilling out and setting up. Four vans split off and headed to guard each of the four entries to the plant. Reimu didn't go with any of them, and instead stayed in the staging area to manage the situation.

"I want eyes in there." Reimu said to the technical guy.

"I don't know what to say," he replied. "The electromagnetic interference is going to wreak havoc on any camera we try to get in there."

"I don't care what you have to do. Get it done."

He saluted and ran back to his computer to try to work something out. Reimu bumped around the staging area making sure everything was set up and ready to go for a long term standoff. The fact that Team Flare had already held the plant for weeks and kept hostages there spoke volumes about the time scale she was going to have to deal with. Although she was mostly focused on getting everyone on point at the moment, it's likely she would have to start having her officers sleep in shifts if it stretched on for more than a few days.

After everything was set up properly, Reimu started focusing on her actual plan. Without any information on what she was dealing with, she couldn't in good faith start an actual assault on the power plant without risking the hostages. So she didn't even consider it, instead all she focused on was getting more information.

"We need to make contact." Reimu said out loud, although to no one in particular. She brought out a map of the power plant again to reference. As she did so, the sound of a helicopter echoed overhead. Reimu looked up to see the chopper land down a distance away, and a few officers step out along with Onozuka Komachi, the head detective of the KPD.

Komachi made a beeline right for Reimu. "Hello~" She said. "Seems pretty busy."

"I assume you have a reason for being here?" Reimu asked.

"My case. Investigating, same as always."

Reimu dropped her head. "We're kind of in the middle of something here, you know."

"Aww, don't be like that." Komachi then yawned. "I can help. Isn't negotiating key here? Isn't information king?"

Before Reimu could respond, one of her officers came over with a few questions. She turned away from Komachi while she resolved the issues while Komachi just milled about. "Okay," Reimu said. "What do you know?"

Komachi dug the shaft of her scythe into the ground and leaned against it. "Team Flare," she began, "is after something. They have some driving goal, and simply taking over the power plant isn't it. This is a step to achieve their goal, whatever it may be. They certainly have no intention of letting it end here, nor do they particularly care for leveraging something besides their own safety and escape."

"That it?"

"They're organized, equipped and funded. As for trained, probably not." Komachi looked around for a bit. "I'll be around," she said before wandering off. Reimu let her go.

"Team Two," Reimu said into her microphone. "Do you have shields?"

"_Roger."_

"Prep for entry in twenty."

"_Roger. Prepping for entry."_

With that, Reimu called a few officers over and hopped into one of the vans. Team Two was standing guard at one of the plant entry corridors, about ten minutes away. Reimu still was issuing orders and organizing things during the ride while her teammates sat in silence around her.

When the van arrived, Reimu found Team Two standing by the entrance. Three of the officers held large tower shields, two had put a plastic explosive on the door and the others were standing to the side guns at the ready. The team she came with set up a bit away and took cover behind some vehicles. After all the preparations were complete, Reimu spoke lowly into her mic.

"Execute."

The explosives on the door detonated, blowing them inwards. Immediately after the officers holding the shields moved in, followed by the others shining flashlights. Shouts of "KPD!" were heard as the officers flowed into the corridor. The entire procedure only lasted a few seconds.

"_Clear." _Came a voice in Reimu's earpiece. She hadn't really expected to encounter anyone right at the entrance, they were far more likely to be held up near the interior of the plant than at the far edges.

"Proceed forward. Check in every sixty seconds, halt and retreat backwards if no check-in." This particular order was to test the range of the interference.

"_Roger."_

Reimu waited while her team proceeded through the corridor. They made it about three-fourths of the distance before communications broke down due to the interference, and halted around that location. They hadn't encountered anyone else, so Reimu told them to stay where they were.

She went over her options. First option was she could follow in and meet up with the team before proceeding into the plant. She'd lose contact with the rest of the force though, something she really really shouldn't do. So her next option was to let the team go in and handle it themselves.

While she was thinking over what to do, an officer gestured to her with a phone in his hand. She took it.

"_There's a warehouse in Lumiose that manufactures cable with electromagnetic shielding. A few thousand meters' worth is on its way." _It was the officer from before.

"Good work."

"_There's more. I got some of the guys rigging up a thermal to the helicopter. We tested it, it won't succumb to the interference. We should have eyes in about an hour."_

"Excellent work. Get that cable over here and that in the air." Reimu handed the phone back to the officer and focused back on her earpiece.

"Retreat to the perimeter," she told the team inside the power plant.

"_Roger, captain."_

And thus the waiting game began again. The hardest part of Reimu's job wasn't the combat, or the micromanaging, or even the fear of being shot to death. It was the waiting. The uncertainty. Having a plan and executing it was the easy part.

This early in the game, there was still plenty to think about. Even though Reimu wasn't sure what the thermal scan would say, she could make plans based on the different possibilities. There was no point in waiting for the information to come in before making the plan. If she _knew _she would receive certain data in the future, it was more helpful to think of what she would do in each possible case _now. _That way when the data did finally come in, she could act immediately.

Reimu kept looking over the maps, over the unit distributions. Who was where and doing what. It was all redundant information, but she kept looking over it.

Finally, a cruiser pulled up. An officer got out of the seat and opened the trunk, heaving a huge spool of cable out towards Reimu. She nodded towards the officer and told him and some others to set it up. On one end of the cable was a phone that would be held by a single member of Team Two, the other a phone held by Reimu.

"_Thermal chopper is in the air, captain. All the other entries also have cable."_

"Roger," Reimu said. "Everyone prepare for entry."

Reimu could see the helicopter flying over the power plant, a good distance above it. As it flew around, a thermal map of the plant appeared on her screen. Reimu studied it intently for a few minutes before calling some other officers over and asked them to take a look.

"What do you think, sixty people?" Reimu asked.

"Approximately. It's hard to tell." Someone said, and pointed to one part. "This part here is pretty grouped together, not exactly sure how many people that is. Maybe about ten."

"That's the break room," Reimu said. "They're most likely the hostages, it's really the only contained area besides the storage areas. But those have nobody in them."

"So fifty hostiles? That's quite a number."

"Maybe," Reimu responded. "But this place has a lot of narrow areas, so numbers won't matter much. They're holding position where each of the access corridors meets the actual plant. Kind of as expected."

"There's quite a few milling around the entire plant," an officer said. "And a few by the hostages, although...well, it's hard to tell if any are in the room with them. It doesn't seem like it though."

Reimu shook her head. "We have to assume they have the ability to execute hostages at any moment. Unless we can get an actual visual. But we don't have that."

Turning away from the screen for a moment, Reimu tapped the side of her earpiece. "Here's the game plan, everybody. We're going to do a simultaneous entry from all four tunnels. Try not to fire unless you're shot at first."

After all four teams declared they were ready, Reimu spoke again.

"All teams, execute."

Reimu waited for the teams to move forward through the corridors. She really wanted to be in there with the teams herself, but with the substandard communication setup there wasn't much she could do. Since she was the person in charge, it was hard to justify entering the fray herself.

After a minute a voice rang from her phone. _"Team Two holding position, contact made with Team Flare. No shots fired."_

"Roger Team Two. Hold position."

Similar declarations came from all the other teams at about the same moment.

"_Team Flare is demanding we retreat or they're kill a hostage." _Came a report from one of the teams. Typical.

"Throw them a phone," Reimu said. She could hear the sounds of the team shouting to Team Flare and the phone being tossed. In situations like these, it was imperative to open communications between the two sides as soon as possible. Actually talking resolved these sort of situations far better than going in guns-blazing.

It's not like Reimu had a _problem _using violence or anything, for the most part it was her preferred option. But hostages situations were messy and not nearly as trivial as "shoot all the people who aren't us." Hence throwing a phone to Team Flare.

"_Tell your men to get back!" _A coarse, female voice came through Reimu's headphones. She adjusted her mic.

"My name is Hakurei Reimu. Who am I speaking with?"

"_GET YOUR MEN OUT OF HERE," _she shouted louder.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Reimu rolled her eyes, although it wasn't for anyone's benefit but herself. "Not unless I can trust you aren't going to hurt those hostages."

"_If your men back down then they'll be fine."_

"Like I said, I can't just take your word on that. How about we start with your name?"

There was silence for a short bit. While Reimu waited for a response, she gestured to one of her officers to find out where Komachi was and bring her over, or get her on the line. Her presence would be important for negotiations.

"_Tenshi," _said the voice on the other line.

"Nice to meet you, Tenshi." Reimu said into the mic. "All we want is to make sure those hostages are going to be safe."

"_They're fine, now have your men get back."_

"I'll make you a deal, Tenshi." Reimu said. "I've got a lot of worried families here. All I want is the names of the hostages so I can tell their families they're okay. If you can do that, I promise I'll have my men get out of your hair, okay?"

After a bout of silence, Tenshi responded. "_Fine. It'll take a few minutes."_

"That's great. It's nice to be working with a professional." Reimu finished with. Reimu had _assumed _there were worrying families, although she wasn't actually certain. It wasn't about actually getting something tactically viable (although they would be watching their movements on the thermal map), it was just about establishing trust between her and Tenshi.

A short while later, Tenshi gave the list of names back to Reimu, and in response Reimu drew back the police a hundred meters. But the situation was far from over.

Over the next few days, negotiations between Team Flare and the KPD proceeded rather well. Reimu didn't want to say it, but they were going _too _well. _Suspiciously _well. After a bit of back and fourth, they had exchanged some food and water for one of the hostages. Through some further social maneuvering, she managed to get another four hostages out with no shots fired.

Suspiciously well.

Reimu realized it eventually, although far longer than it should have taken her. They were _stalling. _And yet Reimu didn't quite know what to do. Whatever objective they were trying to accomplish clearly required holding the power plant for a certain period of time. But Reimu was succeeding—rescuing hostages.

Of course, "a hostage here, a hostage there" can't go on forever. The bad guys will always keep at least one hostage. After all, if they give them all up then all the KPD would have to do is move in and shoot them all. Reimu doesn't play very nice, and the public is aware of this.

She also wasn't one to stay by the book. Although Shikieiki didn't exactly agree with her on this point, field decisions were hard to predict and every situation was different. But in this particular situation, the book was working extremely well. And Reimu had a feeling that she knew was a bad sign.

She wasn't in control.

She needed an edge. Something to shake the status quo.


	9. Voltage 1

_Satori in Kalos_

**Chapter 9  
><strong>**Voltage 1**

"Don't move," said the member of Team Flare as he raised his rifle. Satori decided that she would take this advice, and was not moving. She wasn't powerless, but there was nothing she could do that was faster than the pull of a trigger. And she didn't dare screw with his mind in case he pulled that trigger on accident.

After a few seconds the man's rifle drifted towards Tierno, who was likewise not moving. Satori wondered if he registered as more of a threat than she did, though the team member didn't seem to make any conscious decision about it. They stood like this for a moment until more Team Flare members emerged from the tunnel, totting rifles.

"Get the captain," one of them said. _Was this supposed to happen?_

Satori took stock of the situation. She was in a collapsed tunnel in a pile of dirt that stretched in only one direction. She couldn't see very far into the darkness though, and her roster of Pokeballs was out of reach. Stuck in the dirt. But her knife was attached at her hip.

Still, she wouldn't dare make a move. She could scan everyone's minds nearby without being invasive or having them notice though. Most of them didn't seem to know what was going on, but all took comfort in knowing that their superior would handle it and all they had to do was stand here and keep guard.

After about ten minutes at a standstill, Satori could see a light come from within the tunnel. As it got closer, Satori could make out the person holding the light. She had long, sky-blue hair and instead of an automatic weapon held a sword at her hip.

"Who the hell are these people?" She asked one of the others.

"They just fell through the ceiling, captain."

"That's dumb." _Aww crap, is this what the boss told me to keep an eye out for? What the hell is he thinking? _The woman turned back to Satori. "Stand up you two, hands on your head."

Satori carefully brought herself to her feet and put her hands on her head. She looked down at Tierno, who was struggling to do the same. He was extremely scared and his fear drowned out most of the others' thoughts.

"Don't worry, Tierno." Satori said softly. "We'll be fine, just do what she says." The woman didn't seem to object to Satori speaking. Tierno nodded, and brought himself to his feet next to Satori.

The woman gestured towards Satori. "Take her weapon," she said. Satori didn't change her expression, but was sad to lose one of her few advantages as a grunt took her knife off her. "Collect their belongings," the woman continued.

"Hey, wait! Those are my—" Satori said quickly but was interrupted.

"Don't worry. We're not thugs, we're not going to steal your pokemon. But we can't let you have access to them, you understand." The woman stopped speaking for a moment as she waited for her subordinates to collect the items. Afterwords, she faced Satori and Tierno squarely. "You two are damn unlucky. My name is Hinanawi Tenshi. Yours?"

"Satori."

"T-Tierno..."

"Nice to meet you. Now please follow me. If you try anything, my men will shoot you in the head." _Well, the fat one at least._

And so Satori had no choice but to follow the woman further into the tunnel, hands on her head. She was waiting for an opportunity to get away, but they had her pokemon. Even though there were a couple of times where her captors' attention had wavered—for she was completely aware—there was no way she could grab her roster and escape. Let alone help _Tierno _to escape. It was impossible.

"Where are you taking us?" Satori asked. She did her best not to let her voice quiver, but she was afraid.

"The power plant," Tenshi replied. "You don't have to worry, we have no intention of hurting you unless you force our hand. The boss said we gotta stop being so violent." _For some god forsaken reason. __The hell are you so special for anyways?_

Satori didn't say anything else as Tenshi led her through the tunnel. It was small and dark, the only light available from the flashlights everyone had and the odd lantern hanging on the wall at irregular intervals. It was a bit strange though, the cave was well-made. It must have taken several days or weeks to dig it out.

And yet, Tenshi's thoughts seemed to imply that they _knew _Satori would be here. But that was impossible. She and Tierno just happened to pick the spot to camp right above the tunnel? No way.

Something strange was going on, but Satori couldn't figure out what. Her captors' thoughts were no help, they didn't know much more than she did.

After a long walk, they reached an area of mangled metal. It had been cleared away from the ground, but it was ripped from the walls with little care. The ground beneath Satori's feet turned from dirt to metal as she stepped into the power plant. She looked behind her to see a hole had been ripped in the wall of the plant to make way for the tunnel.

Their footsteps echoed throughout the metal corridor. Tenshi directed them where to walk, and they zig-zagged through open hallways and rooms until they finally emerged in a massive, open area. In the center of the room was a massive pillar with huge cables running down it making a loud buzzing sound. There were catwalks suspended in the air leading to the central column, and on the ground were numerous cables running in every direction.

"This way," Tenshi said and pointed to a ladder. They went up and once on the catwalk, they were led around away from the central tower to a door that left the massive room. A few rooms and hallways later and Satori found herself being shoved into the last one before Tierno joined her, and the door shut closed. A click sounded as the door locked, trapping Satori and Tierno.

They weren't alone though. Satori turned around to see about ten people all staring at her. They looked worn and tired.

"W-Who are you guys?" One of the men asked. He was an older man and wore a gray uniform. Actually, they all wore the same, gray uniform.

"I'm Satori. This is Tierno. Team Flare, er, captured us."

"But what are you doing here? In the power plant?"

Satori recalled her bout of really bad luck, and explained the situation. The people there, after hearing Satori's story, explained theirs. They were power plant workers going about their daily lives when Team Flare rushed in and took them all captive. They'd been locked in the power plant's break room for weeks.

The news wasn't terrible though, apparently every day a captive or two was sent free. Plus they were given food and water and a couple of other amenities. Satori noticed they were considerably more relaxed than she expected for hostages. Team Flare must have been pretty good at controlling panic.

She couldn't help herself though, she just had to look for a way to escape. These people may have been content to sit and wait to be rescued, but Satori wasn't going to _trust _Team Flare. Not by any means.

The room they were stuck in was a large room with a few round tables and couches scattered about. On one of the tables was a large open crate with a lot of canned food spilling out. There was a can opener too. As Satori explored, she found there were actually a few more rooms. There was a small kitchen and an adjacent room with a few beds.

What was really surprising though was that Satori found a couple of items she could use as weapons. There were kitchen knives (although somewhat dull), screwdrivers, and some other miscellaneous sharp objects. Nothing that could go toe-to-toe with an assault rifle, but potential weaponry nonetheless.

As for escape routes, the obvious exit was the door to the break room. It was locked, of course, and probably guarded. Besides that, there was an intake vent on the floor and an outtake vent on the ceiling for the air conditioner. It was industrial-sized, large enough for Satori to crawl through. But Satori couldn't help but think something that was a staple of bad television dramas was actually possible let alone a good idea.

Besides the air vents and the front door, the only method Satori could think of next would be prying the floorboards up, punching through the metal wall or digging into the ceiling. None of those sounded even remotely plausible as solutions, and Satori stopped thinking when she felt she was scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas. There was a nagging feeling that there was some better plan, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Well, couldn't hurt to ask about the vent idea, Satori reasoned. She asked one of the workers, but he just shrugged.

"Prying the grate off would be easy enough, it's just four screws. But it wouldn't do you any good, there's lots of spinning fans that make it impassable."

"Can the fans be stopped?" Satori asked. The man shook his head, but Satori heard a stray little thought and acted on it. "Isn't there some sort of automatic shutoff in case of an emergency, or something?" Satori asked.

The man's eyes widened a little bit. "Yeah, actually. If smoke is detected inside the vents then they'll shutoff in case of a fire. But there's no point in trying, Team Flare is letting us go. Slowly, but they are. It's not worth it."

"Oh. Thanks anyways," Satori said, and went to go back to Tierno. She sat down next to him at one of the tables. He was trying to attach a can to the can opener. Satori saw the can read "sliced peaches." Tierno seemed to have some difficulty at first, but eventually started cranking open the can.

"Hi, Satori." He said nervously. His regular demeanor had broken somewhat at the situation they were in. "How can you stay so calm?"

Satori sat down next to him. "Focusing on other things," she said. "Mostly a way to escape, but I've just realized I'm starving."

Tierno laughed. "Thanks," he said before sliding over a few cans. "There's a pretty wide selection."

Satori looked over at a few cans. There was canned fruit, canned vegetables, and canned soup. Not exactly top of the line, but enough to live off of. "I'll cook us something," Satori said. Tierno nodded and stuck a plastic fork into his can of peaches and started eating. Satori grabbed a few cans of chicken noodle soup and went to the kitchen area.

She found a pot and some bowls. She opened the cans and poured a few into the pot to start cooking up something to eat. There was also running water, which was helpful. She thought again how strange it was that Team Flare let the hostages have all this, but at the same time she couldn't think of how it would be actually helpful for escaping.

Satori leaned against the counter top while she waited for the soup to cook. One of the other hostages came into the kitchen while she was waiting and gave a faint wave, but otherwise didn't say anything. Satori ignored him to the best of her abilities and focused on the food, but her ability didn't really afford her that luxury.

The soup looked to be about done before the man left, so Satori tasted it. A bit bland, but Satori couldn't find any salt so it would have to do. There was quite a bit so she poured the soup into three bowls and took them back out towards Tierno.

"Here." Satori said and placed a bowl down in front of him. He thanked her and started eating with one of the many plastic spoons that were lying around. Satori sat down and joined him, pulling her bandana down around her neck so she could eat.

Satori spoke in a whisper. "So here's what I'm thinking," Satori said. "We start a small fire in the intake vent, it'll shut off the fans. Then I can crawl through and try to escape. Now, I know what you're thinking, it sounds cliché. But there's—"

"But aren't they letting us go?" Tierno asked. "Plus, we're children. Won't we be the next to be released? Not to sound selfish or anything."

"I don't think so," Satori said in a hushed voice. She didn't want to say the real reason she thought they wouldn't be let go. Tenshi seemed to know of her, to be expecting her. If they were targeting Satori for some reason, well, they wouldn't just let her go with the other hostages.

Tierno was a bit caught up in Satori's actions, which she didn't stop since it was useful to her. Tierno helped her look around for something she could use to start a fire. It wasn't terribly difficult—there was a stove in the kitchen. There was a feeling of _too easy _that ran through Satori's mind, but she wasn't going to complain.

She grabbed the screwdriver she found earlier and made her way to the intake vent. A couple people watched her, but none moved to assist. In fact they all stepped back a little bit to distance themselves from her. The screwdriver was the wrong size, and the screws were stuck pretty hard. It must have been years since they were first spun into place.

It took over forty minutes for Satori to remove each of the screws around the grate. She got exceedingly frustrated as time went on, but she made steady enough progress that she didn't give up. As the last screw came out, Satori took the screwdriver and jammed it between the wall and the grate. She wiggled the screwdriver back and fourth until the grate separated from the wall, and Satori pulled it off.

She took a short break before looking for something to burn. There was a bookshelf in the main area that would make good kindling. Satori grabbed the biggest one she could find, a dictionary, and took it to the kitchen. As far as the burning of books was concerned, Satori considered dictionaries "acceptable targets." She twisted the dial on the stove to turn on the flame when Tierno approached her.

"Satori, are you really gunna..." he trailed off. Satori nodded, and stuck the dictionary into the fire. It took awhile for the flames to start eating into the pages, but after a quick minute it lit on fire of its own accord. Satori fast-walked to the air vent and stuck the dictionary inside to let it burn itself out. The smoke was pulled into the vent.

It wasn't clear how long it was supposed to take, and Satori nervously tapped her fingers against her arm as she waited. But the dictionary didn't even finish burning when the sound of a factory alarm buzzed through the facility. It wasn't actually sounding in the breakroom, but it was still audible. The alarm echoed throughout the vent, and Satori took that as her cue to get going.

She slipped the screwdriver into her pocket and got on her hands and knees. With a deep breath, she crawled into the vent. A couple of feet into it however, it became clear there were no lights. The vent turned a corner and the light from the break room was gone completely.

The alarm got louder the more she progressed, and after a minute Satori ran into the first fan. She would have run right into it if it wasn't for a red blinking light in the center. There was barely enough room for Satori to navigate around it, but the blades were stopped so she could take her time. Still, it wasn't something she could do quickly.

_Figures something goes wrong, _came a stray thought. Satori didn't really need to actually see people to read their minds, if that were true it would be trivial to turn her ability off. She couldn't pinpoint the thought's location, but it must have been close by. Some random Team Flare member patrolling.

Satori's little journey was mostly her bumping around, and it was hard to think with the alarm buzzing in her ear. Hopefully it masked any noise she happened to be making. When it ceased, she was relieved for a second. Then the realization hit her that this was a bad sign, and Satori hurried her pace.

Her heart dropped when she heard the hum of the fans start back up and felt the air rush past her as the system came back online. And a minute later, she came across another fan that was spinning at top speed.

She was trapped.

And worse, there were no junctions, no grates, no anything. There was a long stretch surrounded on either side by two fans that were now impassable. But instead of thinking of solutions, all Satori did was succumb to the fear. She immediately jumped to the worst-case scenario where she died of starvation up in the vents, lost and forgotten.

Satori tried to shake the bad thoughts away and focus her mind, but her heart was beating rapidly. It was hard to think clearly. What she thought was that if she could start another fire, they would shut off again. All she had on her though was her clothes, and she didn't know if it was possible to start a fire with just that.

No, there was something else. Satori could see the axle the fan was spinning on from the red lights near the fan. It stuck out a little bit, and Satori thought that she might be able to use that. If she could use the friction from that spinning axle to start another fire, she could stop the fans again. She undid her bandana.

It was hard to approach the spinning axle without getting her hands caught in the fan, which would be almost certain dismemberment. She folded the bandana a bit and slowly put it close to the axle. She inched it slowly, but had to stop when her hands started shaking. She forced herself to calm down and try again.

Satori managed to get the cloth exactly where she wanted it, but her hand was dangerously close to the spinning blades of the fan. She pressed the cloth against the spinning axle. She held it there for a minute, but nothing seemed to be happening. Getting impatient, Satori tried to push a little harder.

The edge of the cloth got caught up in the blade of the fan, and ripped the bandana out from Satori's hand. On reflex she pulled her hand away as the fan ate the bandana, tearing it to shreds and blowing it further down the vent. It was not on fire.

Back to square one.

"Dammit," Satori cursed under her breath. She looked around the fan, looking for anything at all she could use. She could try getting another part of her clothing to catch on fire, but she wasn't sure it would be any more effective. And there was only a finite amount of chances she would have on that front.

Satori couldn't help but think that these fans must have some sort of manual shutoff. They _had _to. What if something like this exact situation happened? Wasn't it plausible a maintenance worker would be crawling around just like Satori was and could get trapped?

But there was hardly any light besides the blinking red light on the base of the fan. Satori's eyes adjusted to the darkness by now, but she couldn't find anything that looked like it would turn the fan off. No switches, no levers, nothing. If there was such a switch it would be by the light, but there was nothing.

Dejected, Satori turned to her side to lay down more comfortably. When she turned though, something poked her from inside her pockets. Satori dug through her pocket and pulled out the screwdriver. She had completely forgotten about it.

With renewed vigor, Satori re-examined the fan looking for screws. If she could somehow unscrew the fan, even loosen it a tiny bit, its speed might be enough to break itself. Satori felt around the non-moving bit of the fan, looking for any screws. She could feel the air rush by her hand from the fan's rotating blades.

Satori felt a bump, the telltale feel of a screw. She couldn't help but start laughing and she had to pull her hand away from the fan. After she calmed herself, she brought the screwdriver up to start undoing the fan.

It was a hexagonal screw.

The despair hit her like a train. It was one thing to not have a plan, it was another to have your only viable plan completely crushed and decimated by something so stupid as _the wrong type of screw. _There wasn't a damn thing she could do to this fan that would stop it. Her best bet was probably to just strip down naked and shove all her clothes into it in the vain hope that it would twist around the fan and slow it somehow.

Satori closed her eyes. She tried to calm herself down, quiet her thoughts and just listen to the rhythm of the fan. Its hum was constant but not comforting, an ever-present reminder of what stood in her way. But she had to calm herself, so she breathed deeply and quelled her thoughts.

And then she heard something. Thoughts, but not hers. That person had walked by again.

_Jesus, my shift lasts another four hours?_

Satori's ability had a pretty good radius, about thirty feet or so. This usually was a major inconvenience since she heard every thought in that radius, but right now it was the only option left to her. Her ability was by no means line-of-sight, if so it would be trivial to turn it off. No, the landscape of thoughts was not so trivial, and she was not so lucky.

Except for maybe right this moment.

The guard's thoughts were wandering wildly, and Satori did her best to get a solid picture of this man. From his thoughts she concluded he was a Team Flare member, fully armed. As for his fears, his main fear was disappointing his boss. Tenshi. He also had some other common fears but Satori didn't see how she could use any of them until she heard a certain gem from his stream of thought:

_God, I don't know dick about power plants. I can't believe that Sam just came in here and turned the ventilation off and on again. How is that supposed to fix anything?_

Finally, something Satori could use. She latched onto that fear of his, and made sure it stayed at the forefront of his mind.

_I hope that nothing explodes. Just my luck, something explodes right in my face and I die. Isn't cooling a place like this really important? I wonder if I should bring it up to Tenshi. But the last thing I want is to bug her..._

Satori thought a moment about what to do. She was successfully keeping him focused on the potentially broken ventilation, but she needed something more. His other concerns were keeping him rooted in place rather than taking any action. She needed to push him over.

So she would give it to him. After backing away from the fan a little bit, Satori shifted her weight to one side of the air vent. With all of her strength she threw herself towards the other side, ramming into the metal wall.

_BOO BOOM BOOMM_

The entire vent shook.

_FUCK what the hell was THAT?_

Satori smirked as the man's fear grew, even though her sides hurt from the impact. But she didn't let up, and slammed her body into the vent again making an inordinate amount of noise. She didn't try to be too obvious that it was a person in the vent, she tried to make it rhythmic so it sounded like a mechanical part was misaligned or something.

She breathed a sigh of relief when the Team Flare grunt decided to call in the disturbance. Satori didn't let up on making the noise, even when she felt the minds of a couple more people arrive. Through their thoughts she could piece together the conversation they were having. Most people thought the exact words they were speaking as they spoke them, and other people listening had the habit of thinking the words that were just spoken. It was harmonizing, in a way. Although from Satori's long history of eavesdropping, she's noticed the amount of misunderstandings that occurred was staggeringly large.

"_What the hell is the matter?" _The person "speaking" was Tenshi, Satori guessed. The thought pattern was familiar. Satori rammed herself into the vent again to make the noise.

"_That. Did you hear that? That started happening minutes after the vents were started back up again."_

Tenshi's thoughts turned to a jumble of frustration and curses. Satori rocked the vent again for good measure.

"_Alright, dammit, there's no avoiding it. Tell that bastard to turn off the vents and fix it for real."_

Satori smiled, but didn't forget to keep up the thumping so it wasn't obvious she was listening. A minute or two later, the constant hum of the fan ceased suddenly and the blades spun to a stop. Satori similarly stopped the noise she was making, and rubbed her sides. The repeated slams hurt, but not too badly. No worse than having her arm bitten into.

As soon as the blades of the fan stopped spinning, Satori rushed to crawl through the opening. If she crawled too quickly it would get loud—the vents echoed quite a bit—but she could go pretty fast while keeping quiet. The ducts seemed to be build sturdily, not surprisingly. This was a power plant, not some run-of-the-mill store or bank.

It wasn't long before Satori came to a junction in the vents. They split left and right, although from the placement of fans Satori guessed that the left passageway led to another grate while the right led further into the air conditioning system. She didn't know what the best option would be, but she really didn't want to get trapped again so she decided to turn left.

The vent continued on for a little bit and made a few right angles that were really hard to maneuver around. The vent wasn't all that large, and the only reason Satori could manage this was due to her petite frame. And so Satori continued her struggle towards freedom.

She realized it before it happened, but was too slow to do anything about it. A little ahead of Satori's position, a bright light suddenly shown from the right side of the vent. Satori froze. A hand emerged from the light holding a flashlight, and shown it in Satori's direction. She had to avert her eyes from the light for a moment before looking back, where she saw the face of Tenshi.

"_HA!" _she cried. "Nice try, little Satori."

"Damn."

"If you want to beat me, you're going to have to do better than that. Now get out of there or we're going to shoot you."

Satori had no choice but to reluctantly crawl out of the vent and back onto the floor of the power plant. She pulled herself to her feet as Tenshi's men pointed rifles. Not directly at her though, more at her feet. Once she stood up, she brushed herself off a bit. She was covered in dirt and grime. She didn't realize it while crawling through, but her hands were nearly black.

"You look like hell," Tenshi commented. "How did you expect that to work?"

At Tenshi's words, Satori also realized her clothes were nearly torn to shreds. She couldn't recall how that happened. Were there screws or something in the vent her cloths kept getting caught on without her knowing? She was pretty angry at that, her supply of good clothing was dwindling rapidly.

"How'd you find me?" Satori asked.

"Uh, we _heard you?_" Tenshi said. "Do you know how much damn noise you were making? Wasn't hard to deduce what was happening, although I'm astonished you actually attempted it." Tenshi started laughing. "It's one of those things you always want to happen, you know? I'm going to have fun telling _this _story."

Satori wasn't laughing alongside Tenshi. She had gone through some trauma of her own in that vent, it wasn't nearly as fun and games as it sounded.

Tenshi turned towards one of her men. "Go get the system back online. No sense wasting any more time than we have to."

The man hesitated though. "Er," he said. Tenshi looked at him questioningly. "Well, it's just I'm worried that the girl may have caused some serious damage to the vents in her escape attempt."

"Ugh," Tenshi uttered. "Seriously? I thought the facility was designed to be resistant and sturdy."

"Resistant to earthquakes and tremors. Not _malicious intent."_

"Alright, fine, just get it fixed and do whatever you have to do keep us on schedule." The man nodded at this and ran off, leaving just Tenshi, Satori and two gunman.

"_So,_" Tenshi said. She drew the syllable out as long as she could. "What oh what am I going to do with you?" Satori stayed silent. "I guess I can't put you with the others, you'll just try it again. You're the only person here who could actually climb through them, though."

Tenshi paced back and fourth for a bit while her men stood around nervously, not sure whether or not to train their rifles on Satori or keep them pointing at the ground. She did her best to get an accurate understanding of their mentalities in the quick amount of time she had. There wasn't much else she could do.

"I guess we'll throw you in a storage locker." Tenshi smirked. "Let's see you break out of _that _one."

Tenshi gestured to have Satori taken away to the storage locker. The grunts jerked their rifles upwards to tell Satori to start walking, and she begrudgingly did so. If Satori was really put in there she would have no hope of escaping. Tenshi urged her to try it, but if she was actually put there it would be too late. She had to do something before.

And yet there were two Team Flare grunts with automatic weapons walking her to her new cell.

Satori's only power here was the power of her Third Eye, and she had been using it to the best of its abilities to learn the stories of the two grunts escorting her. Although Satori's Third Eye read the surface thoughts of everything in the area, it required a focused effort to dig deeper than that. And Satori could only truly read into the deeper trauma and fear of the thoughts she invaded. Other things—love, happiness, sadness—these emotional memories were locked to her.

But luckily, at least in this instance, fear had a way of worming itself into the large majority of one's mind. Human beings were largely driven by fear whether they realized it or not, and it turned the people's minds into Satori's playground. But it took time, time which Satori did not have.

The man walking in front of her leading the way had an interesting story. His main concern at the moment wasn't that he was in danger, or that kidnapping children may not be the best career move. No, Satori learned that he was mostly worried about his three Pokemon he left back at his home. Two Poochyena and one Houndour. They were named Poochums, Biter and Brutus respectively. He had asked his neighbor to take care of them while he was "away"' but he worried that his neighbor wouldn't follow through.

Poochums was younger than the other two and seemed more submissive than Biter and Brutus. It's why the man named him something cuter, but soon after the man got Poochums the other Pokemon had roughed him up. It was typical behavior, but it was a minor trauma of the man. He really didn't want any of his Pokemon to hurt each other, and without him there he worried it might happen.

Satori couldn't really use any of this information. She gleamed a lot of details about the man's life and his love for his Pokemon, but in the current situation it was not exploitable. Satori turned her head around to look at the man behind her. While he pointed the automatic rifle at her, his finger was off the trigger resting against the side of the weapon.

This man, on the other hand, had a considerably darker trauma. Satori's investigation into his mind turned up that he was an ex-police officer. In fact, his mind was completely muddled with traumas and Satori learned nearly his entire life story because of it. This was depressing.

In his work as a police officer, the man had seen horrible things. Things so horrible Satori had to do her best not to show any sign of her disgust at it. He had seen a body mutilated by several knife wounds, he had seen Pokemon neglected and thrown on the street, and hell there were a few _children _that had been neglected and thrown onto the street. As a cop he saw gang fighting, he saw lunatics who got their hands on a gun, and good, innocent people who had no business dying were slain.

All of this is what forced the man to quit his job. The events that led to joining Team Flare, well, Satori couldn't pick those up. Those must not have been fear-related. The man's mind was compartmentalized to a certain degree, and any happy memories Satori could not access in any way.

It was something a little more useful, if Satori dragged all of those thoughts to the surface would the man's attention waver? She could buy a few seconds at the very least. Would they shoot her in the back? She didn't think so, they would likely chase after her instead.

Not that she could outrun them. She may have had the body type required to crawl through air vents, but that benefit came at the cost of her top running speed. On top of that Satori never really worked out, so outrunning them was not a good plan. Plus she might run into more grunts if she ran too far.

Satori considered a more pinpoint approach. Dragging all the bad thoughts to the surface was something easy enough to do, but it was crude. If she could zero in on a specific trauma, it might cause one of the grunts to seize up or run away. Something drastic enough that Satori could really exploit it.

But that would take time. And Satori didn't have time. With every step she took she drew closer to the end, when she would have no options. Climbing through the air vents was not a brilliant plan, but it did afford her one thing. This opportunity, _right now, _where she was the least secure. She had to take advantage of it, it was the last chance she would get.

She didn't have time for a surgical strike on their minds. But making them fearful wouldn't buy her more than a moment's hesitation at best. And if they were trained, like the ex-police officer, then it might not even do that. It wouldn't be enough.

The only other thing Satori could do...it was excessive. Despite what Satori called "minor sadistic tendencies," she knew there was a line. She couldn't help reading others' thoughts, it was her nature. She wouldn't apologize for it. But she had other abilities, and she knew that they were not something to be taken lightly. She had only used it once recently and a small number of times before.

Induced amnesia.

It was something Satori didn't understand fully about herself. An ability she hadn't used often enough—wouldn't use often enough—to get the experience necessary to understand it. Her Third Eye focused on the trauma of others and by extension she could only cause her subjects to forget those memories. But the mind was not something so simple.

Memories were connected to other memories. They all linked to each other in some way, so remembering some things triggered other memories. Satori could erase the memories of people's trauma. Remove that memory-node from the graph of interconnected memories in a human's mind. But if she removed that node, the connections would also fail, and it could cause a cascading effect.

With time, Satori could lower that effect when she induced amnesia into one of her victims. It wasn't something she consciously realized how to do, it was just her ability. The more time she spent analyzing the memory, the more sure she could be that _only _that memory would be effected by the amnesia. It wasn't perfect, sometimes things could be lost that were unexpected. But it was fairly reliable the few times Satori did it. Like with Calem, that night over a month ago.

But Satori had no time. Every footstep she took counted down to her confinement. And she had spent far too long thinking of her options already. She had to act, and she had to act _now. _She had to induce amnesia into one of these people and she didn't have time to pinpoint it. It was counter-intuitive, but the fastest way to do it is a complete erasure of all trauma. Satori didn't need time to build up strength, she needed time for specificity.

It was the only way to target both men. Total trauma erasure. Satori knew she would feel guilty over what she was about to do, but she was going to do it anyways. She focused on the man in front of her. Satori took a deep breath, and exercised the ability of her Third Eye.

A few seconds later, the man stopped walking.

"Hey," said the man behind Satori. "What's up?"

The lead man turned around, his gun pointing towards the ground. "Uh," he said, confused. "What...what am I...?"

"You hit your head or something, Mark?" The grunt behind Satori asked. She had turned her focus away from the man named Mark though.

"I—did I? I'm not quite sure why I'm—wait...I don't...remember...wait, I don't—!"

"Oi, oi, stop pulling my leg."

Satori was thankful for the conversation, it bought her the time she needed to focus on the man behind her. She didn't need to look at him, the Third Eye did not see through normal space. It worked on a whole different level. And the few sentences he exchanged were enough to give Satori what she needed.

"Ahh... ahhhh... AHHHHH!" The other man screamed as Satori erased his trauma, which was most of his life. All of his experiences, she buried them forever and wiped most of his mind clean. A man with that much trauma, it was almost a given that every memory he had was linked to the traumatic ones in some way. He would lose nearly everything.

He dropped the gun and it clattered to the floor as he grabbed his head. Satori turned and backed away from him feigning surprise, getting close to the wall and the gun he had dropped. The forward man, Mark, tried to go to the man's aid. He placed his own rifle on the ground and knelt down by the screaming man.

"Hey, buddy, what's wrong?" he asked in desperation. Mark's amnesia did not seem to be as debilitating, but it seemed to be enough to draw his attention away from Satori. She hesitated for only a second before deciding on her next course of action.

When no one was watching, in a quick movement Satori bent down and grabbed the assault rifle laying on the ground. She darted forward and turned her head to look behind her. The man on the ground didn't notice at all, but the second did. But he was too confused to understand the situation, and didn't do anything as she ran away. Satori breathed a sigh of relief and rounded the corner out of sight.

She wasn't exactly sure how successful the amnesia would be, but it seemed to have worked very well. Yet it exhausted her and she still had plenty to do. She had a weapon now, albeit one she didn't really know how to use, but it was a weapon all the same.

When she rounded another corner, Satori realized she had no idea where she was going. She could trace the path back to where Tenshi had found her but that wasn't anywhere special. She hadn't paid attention to her location while crawling around in the vents so she had no idea where the hostages would be nor anything else.

All the hallways looked the same, but she hadn't encountered anyone yet. After she had run a good distance away from the two men, she stopped. The farther she traveled the more likely it would be she would run into someone. This was not a time for rash actions, she needed to calculate.

While her ability could sense ambient thoughts within thirty or so feet, there was no way to deduce their locations off of it. Still, Satori kept her mind clear to listen. She couldn't hear anyone near her, so instead of running at full speed she crept along as quietly as she could. Her footsteps were audible on the metal ground, but if she stepped on the balls of her feet it muffled the sound to some degree.

Satori slowly crept through the power plant, but she knew that she only had a limited amount of time before someone realized what happened and she had escaped. All the Team Flare members seemed familiar with each other so when two go missing they'll suspect something. But even knowing that, Satori had no idea what she was supposed to do next. She hadn't thought this far ahead.

She needed to get her Pokemon back. That should be her highest priority. But she had no leads to go on as to where they might be. Tenshi had said they weren't thugs, they weren't going to steal them. So they were probably stored somewhere, most likely with the other hostages' belongings. But where would that be? There was no indication where she should begin, although if she found a Team Flare guard it was probably in the right direction.

It wasn't a comforting realization.

And almost as if on cue, she felt someone's thoughts. A Team Flare grunt, no doubt. She froze and tried to stay quiet, but rose the weapon she held level. She had never held something like it before, and it felt too large for her. But its usage was fairly common knowledge. You pull the trigger and stuff in front of you dies.

Satori had no idea if the grunt was getting closer or farther away, but his thoughts were still nearby. She was standing in the middle of a short hallway, a T-intersection on both ends. There were no rooms for her to hide in, so she got near the wall and kept looking back and fourth in either direction.

_I think I'll have spaghetti for dinner tonight, I bet the guys would love if I made some._

The trivial thought offended Satori, in a way. How could he be thinking of something so simple when she was fighting for her life?

Satori waited in the hallway and prayed that the man would leave. But he didn't. Satori turned her head back and fourth looking down both ends of the corridor until she saw the orange figure of the Team Flare grunt walking down. He turned into the hallway Satori was in with a relaxed posture, not even carrying a rifle. When Satori saw him, she raised her rifle and pulled the trigger.

Nothing.

Satori tried to pull the trigger a few more times but nothing happened at all. The man, who had frozen in shock, started to go for a pistol at his hip. Satori turned away and ran the opposite direction cursing the useless weapon she held.

"Hey, stop!" The man shouted and Satori could hear his steps as he ran after her.

While she was running, Satori glanced down at her weapon. Why hadn't it worked? She looked up as she rounded another corner while hearing the man shout into his radio behind him.

"We have an escaped hostage," he shouted. "Escaped hostage! She has a weapon."

"_Don't fucking shoot her, hold fire!" _Came the response on the radio. Satori could barely make it out, but the words were amplified by the grunt's thoughts as they echoed the radio.

Satori looked back down at the rifle and turned it over in her hands. And when she realized what was wrong she felt like an idiot. Guns have a safety mechanism to prevent them from accidentally going off. Satori _knew _this, it was something that everyone knew. How had she forgotten such an important detail at the critical moment?

Once Satori knew what to look for it was fairly obvious. There was a little latch on the side of the rifle. But it had three states, not two, and they weren't marked. Satori didn't know what each one was, but she turned the latch all the way to the other side.

"Stop running!" A shout came from behind her. The man was gaining on her, but not quickly. She kept running, and turned left onto a large corridor. She cursed as she saw more Team Flare grunts on one end, and ran in the opposite direction. Now several people were chasing her.

She ran through the corridor and realized it opened up to the main floor of the power plant, with the massive column in the center filled with electricity. There were catwalks going around the walls and stretching out into the center. Satori turned right and ran across the catwalk hugging the wall. Her primary concern was to keep herself out of the line of fire of the other people, although she had heard the order not to shoot her.

At the sound of shouts ordering her to stop, which Satori had no intention of listening to, Satori turned to look behind her. The catwalk was narrow and so they had to run after her in single-file. Satori looked back in front of her and tried to figure out where to go next. She passed by a few narrow doors on her right but had no idea where they led.

Some movement below on the ground floor of the room caught Satori's eye, and she looked down. Running through the various power equipment was Tenshi, her red sword drawn. Tenshi looked up at her, her eyes wide.

"YOU!" Tenshi shouted. It echoed throughout the entire room.

Her attention caught, Satori was slow in reacting to the door bursting open in front of her. Satori's attention shot back to the door, and another Team Flare man came out holding a rifle. Satori almost on reflex brought up her own rifle towards him and pulled the trigger.

And it was loud.

The force of the rifle shot back and knocked Satori in her shoulder, throwing her to the ground. Bullets sprayed out of the automatic rifle towards the Team Flare grunt, and then towards the ceiling as Satori fell down on her back. Satori let go of the trigger seconds after she fell to the ground, but a huge amount of bullets had spewed from the weapon in that short time.

"AaaaAaahhHHhhHhhhH!" Screamed the man in front of her and fell to the ground himself. Satori couldn't see him, lying on her back. But she tried to roll over. Her ears were ringing and she could barely hear what was going on around her.

As she rolled over, a sharp pain shot through her shoulder. Satori bit her lip from the pain and tried to take pressure off of it, but it didn't help. It still hurt, the weapon must have hurt it bad. There wasn't any blood, but it looked funny. And she couldn't move it.

"_Fuck! Fuck!" _Tenshi shouted. Satori could barely make it out over the ringing in her ears, but looked over to see Tenshi staring at her. No, it wasn't at her, it was above her. Satori tried to follow Tenshi's eyes.

Satori had sprayed bullets onto the ceiling, and there was machinery there. Wires and tubes leading to the central pillar were sparking and a small fire had started. Satori was hurt and on the ground, but this gave her an idea. But she would have to do it fast, Satori could feel the catwalk shake as the men following her drew closer.

"_No, leave her," _Tenshi shouted. _"Cops are going to have heard that, get the fuck out of here you idiots! Through the escape tunnel!"_

Satori's weapon had fallen next to her, but she picked it up with her good arm. The recoil from the weapon had hurt her pretty badly, although the grunt who was standing not five feet in front of her got the worst of it. Satori knew he was still alive because of the screaming and whimpering, but she forced herself not to focus on that.

Dragging the weapon, Satori wedged it into the railing so that the recoil would be transferred into the metal rather than her shoulder. She loosely pointed the weapon towards the center of the power plant, the giant central pillar, and pulled the trigger again. The gun swung around widely and the thunderous noise drowned out everything else. It only lasted a few seconds before the bullets stopped, out of ammunition. Satori let go of the weapon, and it fell out of her grasp down onto the main floor below.

BZZzzZZzZZZzzzzZZZZTTTtttTTTTTTTT

The ringing in Satori's ears was even worse now, but over that she could hear the buzzing of the central pillar. Small explosions were occurring on the side as huge sparks came from it, arcing with the sides of the room and other equipment on the floor.

BBbbBbZZzZzZzZzzZZZTTTtTTtTT

Satori looked around, her arm still in pain, trying to get a grasp on the situation. She saw members of Team Flare fleeing, most of them running down onto the bottom of the room towards the escape tunnel Satori had been brought in from. As Satori watched them, she noticed Tenshi standing still, her sword drawn pointing at Satori. She had a wicked grin on her face, and as their eyes locked she started laughing.

"Yes!" Tenshi shouted, so loud that Satori could hear her even over the buzz of the broken power plant and the ringing in her own ears. "Yes!" she shouted again. "Defeat me, crush me, shove my face into the dirt and step on me. I'll be waiting, Satori girl!"

And with that, Tenshi turned away and ran into the escape tunnel. Satori relaxed somewhat, laying on the ground. She had successfully given Team Flare something far worse to worry about than capturing her. Still, all it would take is one stray bullet from someone wanting revenge to end her. So she crawled towards the dying man she had shot. He was coughing up blood and seemed to be barely conscious.

Satori averted her eyes as she crawled away from him, into the room he had come out of. It was a narrow hallway, but Satori thought it would be safer than out in the open on the catwalks. She rested against the wall just by the doorway.

But then self-preservation kicked in, and she turned back towards the dying man. He was covered in blood and Satori did her best not to look at him. Instead, she reached with her left arm towards the holster on his hip, and unbuckled it. She was at an odd angle, but she worked the pistol out of the holster and grabbed it. The man wasn't in any position to resist.

Satori then retreated back into the hallway, and flipped off the safety of the pistol. She wasn't going to make that mistake again. She would be a bad shot with her left hand, but at least she had a way to defend herself if anyone came.

About thirty seconds later, Satori heard the sounds of gunfire echoing through the entire facility. There were also shouts, but she couldn't make out what they were over the ringing in her ears. She pulled her pistol close to her and prepared to use it.

She heard the sounds of someone approaching from on the catwalk quickly. Satori mentally prepared herself and tried to raise her pistol. But before she could, a uniformed man quickly spun around into the hallway from outside the door. Unlike Team Flare, this uniform was blue and the word "POLICE" was clearly written across the front.

"KPD, drop your weapon!" The man shouted. Satori let go of the pistol and let it fall to the ground. "Hands in the air," he shouted again. Satori raised her left, but her right wouldn't move.

"I'm hurt," Satori said. "Can't move my arm."

The man nodded and lowered his own rifle, kneeling close to her. "Get me another medic," he said loudly. Satori figured he was probably speaking into his radio or something.

"I'm not—" Satori coughed. "I'm not Team Flare," she said. "I-I was a hostage, but—"

The man nodded. "Don't worry, you're going to be all right. Just don't move, someone will be here to help soon."

Satori nodded at the police officer's words, and rested against the wall. She breathed a sigh of relief, she felt a lot safer with the officer standing next to her. He looked _far _more equipped to defend himself than she was. He had body armor, an assault weapon, the whole works.

Despite the ringing in her ears, Satori could still hear thoughts. The ringing distracted her, but it didn't drown them out. There were so many though, and the situation was so chaotic. Satori had no idea what was going on.

A minute or so later, another officer came into the small corridor with her. Instead of looking at Satori though, he turned to the Team Flare member who was bleeding. Satori couldn't help but be offended that the Team Flare guy was getting medical attention over her, but she knew he was probably actually close to dying. Satori didn't say anything.

Shortly thereafter, a third officer came and approached Satori. He knelt down next to her and looked over at her shoulder. "What happened?" he asked.

Satori tried to organize her thoughts. "I shot one of those rifles," she said. "It hit my arm and I fell over. My ears are also ringing, I can hardly hear anything."

The man nodded, and gently touched Satori's shoulder. He pulled her blouse up over so he could get a better look at it. The pain increased as he did it and Satori winced. "Sorry," he said as he looked at it. "It looks like you dislocated your shoulder. It's not too bad, but I don't want to relocate it here. Once it's safe we'll put you on a stretcher and take you back to the tent as soon as we can."

"What about...the ringing, my hearing, I—"

"Don't worry," the medic said. "That should go away in a few days. You might have trouble sleeping tonight, but that's it. Ha, people do worse to themselves at rock concerts." The man joked. But his thoughts betrayed him, it was a white lie. But he was confident in his diagnosis so Satori still felt relieved.

"Thanks," Satori said.

"No problem. You'll be physically fine in a week, maybe two. Tops. But for now, just stay here until we get the stretcher. You don't want to make it worse."

"I can walk."

The man shook his head. "It'll be safer for you if we use the stretcher, if you walk it's too likely you might make the dislocation worse."

Satori nodded, and continued to rest against the wall. The man turned his attention away from her and focused on the Team Flare grunt on the ground. Watching the two medics try to save the man distracted Satori away from her own injuries, but it wasn't a nice distraction.

Less than a minute went by before they stepped back away from the man. Satori heard the phrase "we lost him" before one of the medics stood up and rushed off. The other officer came closer to Satori and stood next to her. It was just her and the two officers, but she had lost focus on them. She just stared at the Team Flare member on the ground next to her.

She had killed him.

Satori felt her stomach lurch, and she started throwing up. The medic knelt down and tried to hold her steady as she turned her head and emptied the contents of her stomach. When she was done, he wiped her mouth with a towelette.

"Don't look at him," the officer said. Satori lowered her eyes.

After only a minute or so, most of the activity had died down outside. Everything was happening really fast. There had been bursts of gunfire every now and then, but it seemed to have stopped completely. The only thing left was the ever-present ringing in Satori's ears.

A few men came over, carrying a stretcher between them. They helped Satori onto it, carrying her out of the power plant. They walked through the hallways at a brisk pace that just prior Satori was frantically running through with a weapon. As they carried her through, Satori remembered something.

"M-My, my pokemon." Satori said. "They're somewhere in here, I don't..."

One of the men carrying her looked over. "We'll find them," he said. It relieved her as she rested on the stretcher. Soon they walked down an incline through a long tunnel. It was dimly lit, and halfway through the lights cut out. The stretcher halted when it happened and a few police officers took out flashlights. They all tensed for a few seconds, but then relaxed and resumed carrying the stretcher.

_Jesus, this entire wing of power plant is offline, _thought one of the officers. Satori felt a bit guilty, that was her fault.

The passageway rose up after awhile, and the party emerged outside in the Lumiose badlands. It hadn't been more than an hour or so from when Satori had initially fallen through the escape tunnel, but it felt like a hell of a lot longer. The sun was close to setting, and the sky was a brilliant shade of orange. It matched the landscape.

Satori was brought to a large medical tent and was set down on a bed. A female doctor approached her and talked with the officer who had looked her over originally. After nodding a few times, she turned towards Satori and began inspecting her shoulder.

"So, what's your name miss?" The doctor asked. "You can call me Eirin."

"Satori."

"Well, Miss Satori. Let's fix your arm up, shall we?" Eirin drew a curtain around Satori's bed so they had some privacy. "I'm going to cut away your blouse, is that alright?" Satori nodded. "Can you remove that accessory first, please?"

It took a moment for Satori to realize what she was talking about. Her eye. "No, I can't, it's..." Satori didn't want to say it. The doctor looked at her questioningly, but took out a pair of scissors and cut away her blouse. Satori wasn't upset, it had already been ruined from the power plant.

"Oh my, it's...connected." The doctor uttered, and felt on Satori's back and neck where the cords of her Third Eye connected to her body. Her hands were cold and it sent a chill down Satori's spine.

"It's—" Satori tried to find the right words. "It's nothing to worry about, please, can you just ignore it?"

"Oh," Eirin said after a minute. "Right, of course. Sorry, not my place, let me have a look at your shoulder." Eirin focused her attention back toward Satori's injury. "This isn't too bad. I'm going to have to brace your body against the side of the bed while I relocate your shoulder. Should be no problem, but I must warn you that you'll feel a slight pressure as I do so."

Lie. That last one was a straight up lie, it was going to hurt like hell. Satori knew that doctors lied like this to make their patients feel better, but it had the opposite effect on Satori. She couldn't really say anything about it though.

Doctor Eirin positioned Satori's body in a certain way and used some sort of device to prevent her from moving around too much. Then Eirin moved Satori's shoulder with no warning.

"AHHHHHH!" Satori shouted. "Ahhh...uwahh...wahh..." Satori started whimpering as the pain subsided. There were tears in her eyes. But she could move her arm again, and the pain had mostly gone.

"There you go, all better." Eirin said. "Oh, well, except for the ringing in your ears, right? I have some medicine that will help, let me get it. It'll go away on its own but I have some pills you can take. Totally safe."

"Ah, wait." Satori said. "I, umm, I was recently on painkillers. A doctor in Geosenge prescribed me something, I don't know what it was."

Eirin rattled off the names of a few painkillers until Satori recognized it, and she assured Satori there wasn't a problem. Eirin thanked Satori for telling her though, and mentioned that it was important information.

A little while later the doctor brought two pill bottles over, a large one and a small one. "Take one of these every twelve hours until you run out," Eirin said. "One from each bottle. The smaller bottle will run out in two days, the larger in a week. If your shoulder still hurts you can take some over the counter painkillers."

Satori listened intently as Eirin rattled off the things that Satori should and shouldn't do to help her recovery. Eirin kept repeating that it wasn't that bad and Satori would be "just fine" in two weeks max as long as she followed instructions. Eirin helped Satori get into a light undershirt before putting Satori's arm into a sling. Then Satori was told to rest in bed.

About fifteen minutes later, an officer came in holding Satori's bag and roster.

"Oh thank god," Satori said. The officer smiled and set the bag down next to her bed.

"There's four Pokemon in here, is that all of them?"

"Yes, thank you." Satori said. "I, umm...thanks..." Satori was at a bit of a loss for words, but the officer just kept smiling.

"Someone will be by to take your state—" The officer began to say, but was interrupted when the ground suddenly started shaking. It was pretty violent, and Satori's bed rocked back and fourth from the force of the earthquake. She held her arm and made sure that it stayed immobile.

The earthquake stopped after ten or so seconds, and the officer began talking into his radio. "Was that anything I should be worried about?" he asked casually.

A minute went by in a bit of a frenzy as people recovered from the earthquake. It wasn't bad enough to have broken anything, but Satori could see Eirin running around making sure all her medical equipment had survived. That sort of stuff required very precise storage.

"_Hey, we're...some strange reports..." _Came a female voice from the officer's radio. He pressed a button on it and spoke back.

"Captain, say again."

"_Just, listen to this." _Came the voice. _"Turn to frequency sierra."_

The officer fiddled with his radio a little bit, and a different voice came through it. A male voice, this time.

"_...my god, it's...no...no...how is this..."_

The officer listened curiously to the voice on the other end, and Satori looked over too. The officer noticed her eavesdropping, but didn't attempt to stop her. The voice through the radio kept speaking, although it was broken up with static. It was hard to piece together what was happening until one phrase came through crystal clear.

"_...my god, it's Yveltal."_


	10. Voltage 2

_Satori in Kalos_

**Chapter 10  
><strong>**Voltage 2**

"What's Yveltal?" Satori asked.

The officer looked over with a strange expression. "It's, uh...hold on, I need to go..." he said, and ran off before Satori could say anything else. She watched him go, and then rested her head back on her pillow. She couldn't really reach down to grab her bag, so she just stared off into space.

From reading the thoughts of everyone around, Satori got the impression that something important was happening that she wasn't a part of. But it was hard to pierce together exactly what, and Satori had a feeling _they _didn't even know. She was so busy trying to figure it out she didn't notice when her friend came into the tent.

"Satori," Tierno said and walked toward her bed. "Thank goodness you're alright."

"Oh, hey Tierno." Satori said.

Tierno started laughing. "I can't believe that plan of yours sort-of worked."

"Mmhmmm," Satori grunted. There wasn't really a place for Tierno to sit, so he stood by her bedside awkwardly. "Hey, Tierno..." Satori said leading into a question.

"Sup?"

"Do you know what, er, 'Yveltal' is? I remember you guys talking about it..."

"Yeah, it's a popular legend. Really old."

"I've never heard of it before."

Tierno looked sheepish. "Well, er, no offense Satori but you're not exactly the most _worldly _person. Your knowledge seems kind of lacking in most areas. What brought it up?"

"An officer said it. What's the legend?"

Tierno scratched his head, and Satori could hear his thoughts trying to form the tale into a story. She kind of learned the gist of it just through that, but she would have a better understanding once he told the story properly out loud. Thoughts were notoriously disorganized in general, and stories were much more interesting when they were told aloud.

"Well," Tierno said after a moment. "I guess the story goes like this. Yveltal is a monster who appears every thousand years, bringing death and destruction to the world. It drains the life out of all living things, making itself immortal as the world around it dies. It irradiates darkness from its very body and its screech is said to strike terror into all that hear it. Oh, and it's shaped like a giant Y."

"A Y, huh." Satori commented. "Sounds scary."

"There's some terrifying stories about it. They say it's like a hurricane, a force of nature. Just stories though."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Satori said as she watched the officers scrambling in the corner of her eye. One of them whispered something in Eirin's ear, and her expression soured. A different officer started approaching the patients in the tent and eventually came towards Satori and Tierno.

"You're Komeiji Satori, right?" He asked. Satori nodded and he jotted something down onto a notepad. "Listen," he said, "normally we would take your statement and process you before taking you home. However something has come up, so we're going to put that off until later. The KPD will ask you at some future date to come in, is that okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine with that."

"Good. There's a bus a little ways that way that will take you to Lumiose and drop you off wherever you want."

Before Satori could question him about what "came up," the officer had left. Satori shrugged and Tierno looked around funnily, but otherwise didn't respond. Satori turned herself sideways and swung her legs down over the side of the bed, preparing herself to stand up. When Eirin saw she was active, she hurried over.

"Wait," she said. Satori stopped moving. Eirin seemed at a small loss for words. "The next...the next few weeks or even months might be really tough, if what I'm hearing from the officers is even tangentially true. The doctors are going to have higher priority things to deal with than your dislocated shoulder. It's something you need to follow up on in a week, and maybe another time after that. But you might have trouble finding a doctor who can spare the time."

"Doctor Eirin," Satori said sternly, "what's happening?"

But she just shook her head. "I don't know. Something bad. Just be _really _careful with your arm, because you may not be able to find help. I'm sorry."

"No, thank you." Satori said. "I'll be careful."

Eirin nodded, and turned back towards her other patients. Satori pulled herself to her feet, being careful not to rock the sling her right arm was in. She grabbed her bags from next to the bed and rooted through them for a minute to see if everything was still there. It was, even her knife. Although Satori didn't want to say it, she had to give Team Flare credit for not stealing or trashing her things.

Satori and Tierno made their way over to the bus. The seats were comfy. The entire bus was full except for a single empty seat behind Satori and Tierno. Everyone who was hostage in the power plant was on it, along with some officers.

Satori was only wearing a light undershirt, and although it concealed her body it was somewhat embarrassing. Tierno didn't seem to notice though, and from his thoughts he really _hadn't. _What he was thinking about was a large amount of guilt and regret at letting Satori get into this mess.

She thought it was kind of sweet.

"Is something on my face?" Tierno asked. Satori blushed and turned away.

"Nevermind."

The engine of the bus roared five or ten minutes later, and it began making its way towards Lumiose. The trip wasn't supposed to take too long, only a few hours. Satori wanted to pull out her Pokemon and talk with them but there wasn't really any way to in the bus. It was too cramped and people would object if she just summoned a bunch of Pokemon.

The bus faithfully went on its journey until it reached the gates of Lumiose. The sun had long since set, but the city was dark. Only a few buildings had power, Satori guessed maybe the hospitals and labs that had dedicated generators. The rest of the city was completely without power.

The older passengers had homes and apartments where the bus driver stopped at, and after most of the others had gotten off he asked Satori and Tierno where they would like to go. It was mid-evening, but Satori was ready to go to bed.

"The Pokemon Center, I guess." Satori said looking at Tierno. He nodded.

"Righto," said the bus driver. Satori remembered Lumiose being incredibly hard to navigate, but the driver seemed to know his way around. He stopped off at the Pokemon Center that Satori had been to before, but the light inside was dim.

The doors of the bus opened, and Satori nodded to the driver as she stepped out. Tierno followed behind her, and they walked off the sidewalk into the Pokemon center. The power to the center had been shut off with the rest of the city, but light was coming from seven or so lanterns that had been placed around the lobby area. There were quite a few people in the lobby, more than Satori would have thought.

Satori walked up to the nurse standing behind the counter. "Can I help you two," she asked quietly.

"Can we have two rooms, please? We're trainers."

The nurse nodded. "The computers are down, so I'll have to register you manually. It will take a minute, can you please wait?"

They nodded, and went over to the lobby area to wait. There were a few adults standing around solemnly and a couple more sitting down. There was also a group of five children a few years younger than Satori sitting down in a circle. She found them peculiar, and as she approached she realized everyone was listening to an old radio that had been set up on a table.

Satori sat down next to one of the children. She had a peculiar ribbon tied around her yellow hair, but Satori shrugged it off and focused on the radio.

"_...local forces and trainers are trying to fight it off, but it seems to have been ineffectual. KPD forces are heading to Geosenge as we speak, but due to an incident at the power plant their response is slower than ideal._

"_We'd like to urge everyone to prepare to take shelter at a moment's notice. We're not sure as to where Yveltal will travel next, but it's expected to leave Geosenge. It will likely go either northeast towards Shalour or south towards Cyllage. Residents from either of those cities, please find shelter as fast as you can. Anything underground should be safe. Basements, cellars, things like that._

"_For those of you just joining us, the legendary Pokemon known as Yveltal has currently risen from beneath Geosenge and is currently attacking the city. The legends seem true, all true. Please, protect your loved ones, your family, and be safe. We'll be bringing you updates on this airwave as we get them."_

One of the children to Satori's left shifted and looked up at her friend. "H...hey...Cirno..." she said. "Are we going to be okay...?"

The girl named Cirno smiled and wrapped her arms around the two children sitting on either side of her, bringing them close. "Don't worry you guys. I'm the strongest, I'll protect you."

Satori noticed a glimmer behind Cirno as she shifted in her seat. It was hard to make out in the low light, but there were two nearly-transparent wings on her back. They reminded Satori of icicles. It was hard to see, did no one else notice the youkai in their presence? Satori scanned their thoughts.

They were far to focused on the radio.

The announcer on the other end kept describing the events happening in Geosenge. It was a small town, but apparently the destruction Pokemon was laying waste to it in entirety. It was surreal, hearing about it through an old-school radio. But it somehow made the situation feel more _real._

"Can this...can this really be happening?" Tierno asked. She just shrugged, and other people made similar comments every once in awhile. Everyone in the room's thoughts were aligned, it was fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Harmonizing, in a horrible way.

The nurse walked over towards the crowd, Satori specifically. She stood up.

"Your room is ready at the adjacent hotel," the nurse said. "I have the keys here. Yours two, sir." She added turning towards Tierno.

"Thank you," Satori said taking the keys. She and Tierno left the Pokemon center, heading towards the hotel. It turned out they had adjacent rooms, so Tierno bid her good night and agreed to meet her in the morning. Satori then opened the door to her room and went inside.

She threw her bags on the table, and took out her roster. She didn't even hesitate throwing out all four balls into the spacious room. All four emerged in a bright light before the darkness took over again.

_Huh, what are we doing here? _Said Delphox. _Hey, master-_ Delphox stopped talking when she turned around and saw Satori. _Master! What happened?_

The other four pokemon turned towards her as well. Satori had her arm in a sling, as well as numerous cuts and bruises all over her body.

And her wall came crashing down.

The front she put up to deal with everything, the facade, the brave face. All of it came crashing down when she found herself alone in this room with just her Pokemon for support. Everything that she had been through and had bottled up. Everything kept in check by her adrenaline. All of it surged fourth.

And Satori cried. She fell to her knees. Delphox and the others came towards her. Satori wrapped her good arm around Delphox and buried her head into its soft fur, sobbing. None of them pressed her for the story, or demanded anything of her. They just stood by and let her weep.

It was enough. Delphox returned the hug, Absol leaned against her and even Pikachu nuzzled up on Satori's lap. Wobbuffet didn't have the limbs to help like they did, but it stood by close and wobbled back and fourth soothingly. It all helped her, more than anything. She didn't know how long she stayed like that, but it was a long time.

She heard gunshots all throughout her dreams.

Her Pokemon were already awake when Satori rose from her bed, watching guard. Except Absol. Absol was still asleep. But she stirred a minute or so after Satori had awoken and followed her as well. Satori smiled at them as she swallowed her medicine.

She knew they deserved to know what had happened, so she pulled out a chair from a desk and sat down, facing them. They gathered around and she told them everything that had happened to her, without leaving any details out. Their reactions were much as she would have predicted, initial shock followed by some humorous laughing followed by horror. And then Satori finished off with the kicker—Yveltal was flying around.

_Way to go, _said Pikachu. Didn't even bother to mince words. _You summoned Yveltal._

Delphox kicked Pikachu in the gut after he said it, but Satori just gave a nervous laugh. "Thanks, Delphox, but he's sort of right. There's no way it's just coincidence that after the power plant fails, Yveltal just happens to appear."

_Maybe not, but even if you caused it there's no way that the moral responsibility falls on your shoulders. _Delphox put her hands on her hips. _Assuming that destroying the power plant would lead to the release of an abomination wouldn't just be ridiculous, it would be reckless._

Satori smiled and scratched the top of Delphox's head. Delphox had grown almost as tall as Satori, and it was less like having a Pokemon and more like having a friend now. They talked for a bit longer before Satori decided to take a shower and get herself cleaned up and presentable. She was careful with her arm.

It was disappointing for Satori to realize that she had exactly one outfit left. They weren't exactly expensive or top of the line or fashionable, but they were _hers. _She would have to go buy spare clothing, but at least it would give her something to do today. Before that, however, she headed to the Pokecenter.

There were still a few people around the radio, including some of the children Satori had met last night. Only two of them today, the ribbon-girl and a green-haired girl. The latter had wings too, but the girl with the ribbon didn't outwardly look youkai. The other people in the center gave them a wide birth. Satori approached them.

"Excuse me," Satori said softly to get her attention. The green-haired girl and her friend turned towards her. "Can you tell me what's happening?"

"The m-monster is attacking Shalour now..." she responded hesitantly. She looked really nervous, but that was understandable. "T-The radio man says it will probably head to Coumarine after..."

Satori was alarmed at that. It appeared in Geosenge, now has gone to Shalour, and it's going to hit Coumarine next? If it followed that trajectory, the next destination would be...

...Lumiose. Where Satori was now. It was a jarring thought. A few seconds later though, Satori came to another realization. Her friends were in Coumarine and in no position to defend themselves.

_That _was jarring too.

Satori sat down on the couch in the Pokemon center, trying to calm her thoughts while waiting for Tierno. She tried to call Calem on the holo caster, but when she pulled it out she discovered it had no reception. Which was odd, because it was supposed to work even in the most remote areas of Kalos.

The power outage seemed the likely culprit, but Satori didn't feel that was quite right. Holo Casters replaced cell phones, and Satori thought that the technology wouldn't be dependent on something like cell towers. Weren't they supposed to be _beyond _that by now?

Not that it was her area of expertise. Satori shrugged and awkwardly put the device back in her bag.

"I like it," said the blonde girl. Satori looked over, and didn't really have a choice except to eavesdrop. She had caught both their names in their ambient thoughts too. Rumia and Dai, although the latter might have been a nick name.

"What? W-What do you mean?" asked Dai.

"It seeps darkness, right?" Rumia said. She seemed entirely too enthusiastic. "That's totally my schtick. We'd be awesome together."

"B-But what about...you know..." Dai said, hesitating to finish her statement.

"Bah, people are tasty!" Rumia exclaimed. "Come here, Dai, Imma eat you~"

Dai tried to back away as Rumia tackled her, playfully nibbling on her arm. The commotion caused a few people to look over, but they were nervous and kept their distance. Dai was clearly a youkai, after all.

Though to Satori's surprise, it seems their presence was tolerated. No one really adjusted their behavior around Dai except maybe just standing a little bit over there. Then again there were bigger things to worry about.

"Hey you two," Satori said. Rumia and Dai looked over. "Where are you guys from?"

"Lavarre," exclaimed Rumia. "But it's way more fun here in Lumiose."

Tierno made his way into the Pokemon Center before Satori had time to ask a follow-up question. He saw her and made his way over. He paused when he noticed Dai's wings, but then kept moving and sat down on the couch.

"Mornin, Satori." He said. His enthusiasm seemed to have drained away slightly, but Satori didn't blame him. Thoughts of the situation kept pressing on her mind. _Right now, _there was a flying monster over Shalour _killing people. _

Satori couldn't help but think back to yesterday, the corpse in the doorway. She shook her head around and tried to make the thoughts go away.

"You okay?" he asked. Satori looked up, and realized she hadn't responded to his greeting.

"I guess," she said. "Between yesterday and...now _this, _I think I'm better than I have any right to be." At those words, Delphox leaned a little closer. Satori appreciated the effort.

Tierno sat down. "I think the right advice is supposed to be to talk about it with a psychologist," he said. "But at the moment I think we should both forget about yesterday and focus on right now."

Satori glanced up at him. His thoughts confirmed what she was thinking. "It's the calm before the storm right now, isn't it?"

A sullen look came across his face. "...we came to the same conclusion, didn't we?"

Yveltal, the being of destruction and death. Naturally it would want to cause as much as possible, and to do so it would have to go to Lumiose. Right for them. And it probably wouldn't take more than a day or two, it was iffy at best.

"Could we leave?" Satori asked. "Find a safer city?"

"Ha, good luck!" Rumia said loudly. Satori and Tierno turned, not realizing they were being listened in on. Rumia continued. "Entire city is locked up with people having that same idea. Line to leave through the gatehouse is a mile long!"

"Just perfect." Satori said. "What a great idea, surround the entire city by a _fucking wall."_

Rumia gasped. "You said a baaad word."

Satori ignored her, it felt justified.

"Come on, solutions." Tierno urged. "We gotta think of solutions. If leaving isn't a reasonable option, what is?"

"The radio announcer said to get underground," Satori said.

"Yup, bingo bingo." Rumia said. "But you guys got a place to go underground? Not as many as you'd think, you know."

"Let me guess," Satori said. It wasn't a guess. "_You _have such a place?"

Rumia laughed, and Dai seemed very apprehensive. "R-Rumia," she said. "we aren't supposed to tell people..."

"But they can join us," Rumia said. Then she turned towards Satori, and got serious. Sort of. It was a mock-seriousness. "_For a price," _she said in a low tone.

Satori rolled her eyes, but scanned Rumia's thoughts to see what was really going on. She was being truthful, for the most part. They _did _have an underground area in Lumiose to themselves, and it wasn't a bad idea either. Get underground where the flying, airborne monstrosity of doom can't reach you. But Satori had a partner here, so she turned to Tierno.

"I dunno..." Tierno scratched his arm. "That one's a, you know..." _Youkai._

"Would you rather take your chances with Yveltal?"

He shrugged and shook his head. "Alright."

Satori reached down into her bag, awkwardly unzipping it with only her left hand and reaching in. She pulled out her wallet, and brought it close to her chest so she could use both hands. She fished out 10,000P and held it out to Rumia.

"Can this buy our way into your club for the immediate future?"

Rumia and Dai just stared at the cash. Satori suppressed a smirk, she knew it would be a lot to them. Hell, it was a lot to _her. _But living seemed like a good investment. A few seconds went by where the two kids stared in shock at the cash before Rumia snatched it from Satori's hands and stared at it closer.

"Ah, uh, yeah." Rumia said, thrown off her game. Satori smiled, and Rumia led Satori out of the Pokemon center. Tierno and Dai followed them.

It didn't take long for Rumia to return to her abnormally high spirits, although the smaller girl seemed even more shy with Satori and Tierno walking with them. Rumia led Satori through Lumiose for a bit, and they passed by one of the gates. She had been right, there was a huge crowd formed at the entrance and a line that stretched for quite a ways down the sidewalk.

If Yveltal was going to attempt to cause as much death and destruction as possible, it would probably be best _not _to stick around the massive crowd of people. That, and Satori really really didn't want to. She wasn't sure she would be able to take standing in a line like that, hundreds of people around her. Their every thought intruding in on her peace of mind.

Passing by was bad enough.

They went past the gate though, towards the more industrialized part of town. It wasn't doing much industrializing at the moment because of the power outage though. The buildings were larger, more like warehouses.

Rumia finally led Satori to one of these warehouses. Or more precisely, to a stairwell leading _under _one of the warehouses. There was a small metal door at the bottom of the stairs with the word "Maintenance" engraved at eye-level. The stairs were narrow, and the five of them had to stand single file. Rumia was in front, and pulled down on the handle.

Despite being a heavy-looking metal door, it opened silently and effortlessly. The warehouse looked fairly new, but with the power out it didn't seem to be in use. Probably why they were using it as a hideout.

Satori and Delphox followed Rumia into the maintenance room, with Tierno and Dai following behind. It was actually rather large, and numerous pipes and electrical boxes littered the walls. But there was a personal touch as well, sleeping bags and futons were laid out, and a box or two of supplies sat in the center. They were likely using this place long before Yveltal emerged.

The only other person in the room was the girl Satori recognized from last night, Cirno. Wearing a blue dress and short, blue hair. She turned as the group entered the room.

"Hey, Rumia!" Cirno said strongly. "Who are you bringing into our secret hideout?"

Rumia trotted over to Cirno and waved around the cash Satori had handed over. "Look what they gave me. They wanna join our gang," Rumia said playfully.

Cirno's eyes widened slightly, but she quickly recomposed herself. Satori caught her thoughts though, nothing could hide from her. "Ah, well, I guess if they pay tribute then they're cool," she said. "Welcome to Team Nine, minions!"

Satori stood up straight and saluted. "Yes, boss!" She said. It was kind of fun to play along. A second or two later Tierno shrugged and followed Satori's example. Even Delphox raised it's small arms and gestured, which Satori thought was cute.

"Ha ha," Cirno laughed. "I like you guys."

The new recruits nodded, and Satori eyed the space Cirno and her gang found. It wouldn't be as comfortable as the hotel rooms, but it was underground and looked pretty sturdy. It was far from a bomb shelter, but it was probably the best Satori would be able to get on such short notice.

"Well then, better put you guys to work." Cirno said. Satori and Tierno glanced at each other, but didn't have time to say anything before Cirno continued. "We're all on rotation. Rumia and Daiyousei were..._supposed _to be listening to the radio...Mystia and Wriggle are trying to go get us some food, and I'm here holdin' down the fort."

Satori smiled as she and Tierno got thrown into the rotation scheme they had set up. With the money Satori provided to Team Nine, they purchased a sizable amount of food and other supplies, along with a few luxury items.

The entire team met up after each task in the rotation, and consolidated their knowledge. Satori wasn't too concerned with the gathering of food, but neither was anyone else really. Most of the gang's focus was on Yveltal. Although having a task to put her mind to served as a small distraction, it wasn't enough.

Yveltal was still over Shalour at the day's end, and the police had not stopped it. The radio had given the reasoning that even after taking immense amounts of damage, Yveltal simply absorbed the life energy from around it to rejuvenate. They didn't have the firepower to put it down.

It had made its way to Coumarine by the next day, still free and causing destruction. Satori could only pray that Calem and the others had made it somewhere safe. Trainers had gathered from all over Kalos to try to combat it, but still couldn't kill it. The radio had said trainers were being called in from other regions, but it would take time for them to arrive.

The third day Yveltal turned towards Lumiose. The city was in a sort of informal evacuation—the gates were major choke points and a riot had broken out of the people trying to escape. It wasn't safe to go leave, andthe terrible monster of death and destruction hadn't even arrived yet.

Satori sat in Team Nine's den along with all the others. They were attempting to have a lighthearted conversation to take their minds off of what was about to occur. Satori didn't really understand it though, something about pulling pranks and being arrested by some mean-spirited officer named 'Reimu.'

_DEATH_

Satori's eyes widened when she heard it. She looked around at all the others, but they hadn't sensed anything.

_KILL_

"Oh god..." Satori uttered. The rest of the room heard her quiet voice, and turned to her. But she could barely pay attention to them, the thoughts entering her mind were more powerful than anything she had encountered before. They overtook her senses.

_DESTROY_

"What's wrong, Satori?" Tierno asked.

Satori didn't respond right away, trying to get a handle on her own mind. The raw emotion behind the creature's thoughts sent shivers down her spine. "It's..." Satori started. "It's here."

The room froze at that. No one doubted her words, even though they weren't aware she could read minds. In the silence, they could hear screams coming from above though. That confirmed it, it was here. Yveltal had arrived.

Satori tried to block out the thoughts, but it was no use. She was a satori, her ability could not be turned off. The connection of thoughts was forged, and Satori did everything she could to quell the anger and fear that overcame her. Delphox, Absol and Pikachu stood around her in an attempt to comfort her, but it was clear they were affected nearly as much as she was.

_DESTROY THE INVADERS_

"H...Hey, are you alright, Satori?" Tierno asked. "You look really bad..."

Satori curled up into a ball. She wasn't going to explain it, not now. "...afraid." She said instead. It wasn't a lie.

_I'M GOING TO KILL YOU_

Its thoughts were pressing its way into Satori's mind, dragging her into its own feelings. She took deep breaths to calm down, to reassure herself that she was safe in Team Nine's little bunker, that Yveltal would destroy Lumiose to its heart's content and move on, and she would come out of it safe.

_I'M GOING TO KILL YOU SATORI_

…

…

_What did it just say?_

_I'M GOING TO KILL YOU LITTLE SATORI. INVADERS. MANIPULATORS. MURDERERS. I WILL DESTROY YOU._

"Oh god no," Satori uttered. "Oh god..." Everyone looked to her, and she looked back at them in turn. Satori's pokemon had looks of similar fright—they understood what was happening. However it was that Pokemon could communicate with each other, they could understand Yveltal's cries. The others didn't though, the humans. Yveltal was after _her. _What the hell had she done to it? It was after _her, _it wanted to kill _her. _

And if she stayed here then it would probably also kill _them._

Satori wasn't really the type to sacrifice herself for others.

But she didn't really know what else to do. It wasn't a choice between her or them, it was a choice between her and them, or just her. She had to leave, to get away. She would...go find whoever was fighting this thing, and ask them for protection. Yeah, that was the best plan.

Leaving her little sanctuary of safety, however, was not something that she wanted to do. She reached out and grabbed Delphox, bringing her into a one-armed hug. Satori's right arm was still in a sling.

_What the hell am I going to do, Delphox?_

Delphox didn't have an answer. Instead, Tierno shuffled towards her. "Satori, what's going on?"

"I...I..." Satori didn't know what to say. "I...think I have to go..."

"What?"shouted more than one person. Cirno followed up. "You're completely crazy if you want to go out there."

Satori shook her head back and fourth. Yveltal's thoughts were still drowning out the majority of her own thoughts, its presence that loud. Was there anything she could say to explain? Would they believe her?

"I'm sorry," she said after a minute. "If—if I survive, I'll explain everything."

Tierno tried to stop her, but Satori swiftly backed away towards the door of the factory, and pulled it open. Her Pokemon chased after her, and Tierno too. But Satori closed the door in his face, and whispered "I'm sorry" one last time.

It would have been easy for Tierno to just open the door up again and chase after her, but he didn't. Satori could have found out why if Yveltal's own thoughts weren't drowning out everyone else's. Communicating with her own pokemon was hard enough.

Satori turned away from the door, and it immediately became clear things were wrong.

For one, it was dark outside. At two in the afternoon.

There was also an unnatural light coming from the other side of the city, and billowing smoke from the same location. Fires had started, the only light in the entire powerless city. Satori ran away from the safety of the factory to try to get a better view of the sky and of the area on fire, but the buildings blocked her line of sight.

If she tried to get to higher ground, she would have a better sense of what was going on. However, if she did that then she would be putting herself in more danger. The safest place to be was underground, away from the sky and the flying Yveltal.

But it was after Satori, specifically. She wasn't safe underground, she wasn't safe _anywhere. _The chance of a bomb shelter or something similar just appearing in the nick of time was nonexistent. She couldn't outrun it, she couldn't escape it.

"What the hell am I supposed to do..." Satori asked in desperation. She hadn't addressed anyone in particular, but her Pokemon all stood beside her listening. Delphox and Absol didn't offer any response, but Pikachu took a few steps forward and stood in front of Satori.

She looked down at it as it looked up at her. Satori had tamed it by being above it, being the alpha. But right now she felt like the afraid little girl that she was, and Pikachu's glare cut through her.

_Fight back._

"W-What?" Satori asked.

_Fight back, _Pikachu said again.

"I can't do that," Satori argued. "It's a legendary monster, I'll—" Satori didn't want to say what was going to happen to her.

_To hell with that, boss._ _Fighting back is what you do, it's why I respect you. You fought me, you fought against Team Flare twice, hell, days ago you fought against being taken hostage against fifty guys with guns. And you won._

"That was—"

_It was you, _Pikachu said. _So stop feeling sorry for yourself, pick yourself back up, and let's go fight back._

Satori stared at the Pikachu, and it glared back. Its look was serious, cold. Delphox and Absol weren't offering their opinion, standing by for Satori to make her decision. She hesitated for a long moment.

Then nodded her head.

Before Satori could do anything else, a loud screech echoed throughout the city followed by numerous screams. It was the sound of crashing metal, and the ground rumbled underneath Satori's feet. A building collapsed somewhere.

Satori bolted into an alleyway on the other side of the street of the factory. She may have had a goal now, but she had no way of carrying it out. Fight back? How the hell was she supposed to fight back?

Well, other people were fighting back, weren't they? The police, the trainers...they were going into the fray to fight against Yveltal. Satori needed to find them, get involved. Tell someone in charge what was going on.

There was another screech, but this one wasn't the sound of crumbling metal. It was Yveltal. Satori turned towards the sound, but she was in an alleyway. She couldn't see what was happening or why it had made that noise.

It took all of Satori's willpower to run _towards _the noise, but that was what she had to do. If she couldn't flee, she would have to fight. And to do that, she had to get closer.

The alleyway opened up into a small park, with a fountain at the center. Satori leaned over into the fountain and splashed water onto her face, trying to jolt her senses.

Yveltal's thoughts still pressed on her mind. She suppressed them to the best of her ability with little effect. The Third Eye didn't have that large of a radius, but Yveltal's thoughts somehow made it to her even from across the city.

There was probably a clever insight there, if Satori was thinking at all rationally.

_Mistress, do you have a plan? _Absol asked.

Satori looked over a her Pokemon, who were loyally following her every move. "No," she admitted. "I was going to try to find out whoever is in charge, and tell them what we know. Then help fight." Absol nodded at the response, and Satori looked around at the two other alleyways leading to the park.

Lumiose was a notoriously convoluted city. The plan doesn't _seem _complex at first glance, though. The center of the city is a massive tower that doubles as the gym, as well as a great tourist attraction. There is an inner main road that circles around the tower, and an outer main road that circles around the perimeter of the city. The inner and outer main roads are connected by a number of large avenues, with smaller roads an alleyways interconnecting in between.

The idea is that you can circle around one of the main roads, then head down an avenue and then further refine your path to get to your destination. Theoretically easy to navigate. The reality turned out to be, however, was that it was ridiculously hard. While a circular city was a more novel idea, apparently grids were the way to go for ease of navigation.

Which sort of led Satori to having no idea where she was or where she was supposed to go. When the city was under normal operation, there were numerous maps and quite a few cab services had sprung up to take people where they needed to go. But none of those were available to Satori. She didn't really have any idea how to get from point A to point B.

She started to run in the general direction of the fire, assuming that Yveltal and the people fighting it were around there. She dashed down one of the alleyways in that direction.

The alleyway turned out to be a dead-end.

"Dammit," Satori cursed.

_This city sucks, _Pikachu commented.

Satori had no choice but to retrace her steps. She made it to one of the main avenues. It probably wasn't a good idea to travel along the main roads, but Satori didn't know the city nearly well enough to traverse entirely through back alleys.

Towards the Prism Tower would be the quickest route, assuming Satori didn't make too many blunders in navigation. But she was hesitant. It looked like an "obvious target," something that was obviously going to attract the attention of Yveltal.

_Isn't that what we're _trying _to do, _asked Delphox. Satori looked over at her.

It was, of course. But Satori turned away from the tower anyways, and headed towards the outer ring of the city. Satori rationalized it as the better, safer strategy, but in her heart she knew it was mostly cowardice that drove her decision. She didn't think she could handle going straight for it. In fact, she was doing her hardest not to think about what she was actually doing.

_DESTROY_

_KILL_

Yveltal's thoughts still echoed throughout her head and the heads of her Pokemon. It never really stopped, but the more Satori concentrated on other things the less she noticed it.

Despite Satori clearly hearing Yveltal call her out specifically, it didn't seem to be chasing after her. She had a better view of the skyline from the main road, and she kept her eyes on the sky as much as she could without tripping over herself. It didn't appear, and seemed to be at the western edge of the city.

"Can it...can it not track me?" Satori asked.

Delphox just shrugged, and the three pokemon exchanged glances. _We, er, _Delphox started. _We kind of assumed it could. I mean, it's a legendary, so it's a fair assumption._

_Perhaps the others are keeping it at bay, _Absol offered. _There are numerous trainers that are more than capable of fighting._

"Safer to assume it can," Satori said. "The safest thing for us to do is to surround ourselves with the others who are fighting."

The others agreed, and they ran down the main avenue. Satori's stride was awkward, since with her arm in a sling she couldn't use her arms for balance. She also was trying to be careful not to hurt her arm too much, recalling the doctor's words from earlier.

Satori realized how foolish it was to be concerned with the long-term healing of her arm when she was running to almost certain death. She realized, but thought about it anyways. It helped to give her hope, in a way.

Lumiose was, as Satori was realizing, a very large city. While the plan to go join the action sounded...well, "good" wasn't the right word, but it sounded like a plausible plan. The issue was Lumiose was large, and getting to the action would take awhile.

She took the opportunity to try to think about how to attack Yveltal and actually make a difference. Unfortunately, she didn't know a lot about it.

_It sucks the life out of people, right? _Delphox ran a bit ahead of Satori._ It's how it regains its health even after being attacked._

"Yeah," Satori said as she jogged down the road. "Presumably the key to killing it is to either cut off that power, or to deal enough damage to it so it can't keep up."

_I don't think we will divine the former anytime soon, _Absol offered. _And we don't have enough firepower by ourselves for the latter._

_Which is why we're joining with others. To add to the overall firepower. Right?_

Satori thought a moment. Killing it wasn't necessarily the goal though. The goal was to _stop _it, not kill it. It was a subtle difference, but would it open up more options? Yveltal was technically a pokemon, albeit by only the most lenient of definitions. Satori thought of one way of stopping it, but it was dumb. It was even dumber than escaping through air vents. That had _worked _though, to some degree.

"Hey, what if we just—" Satori hesitated in saying it. Her companions looked up at her. "I mean, what if we just threw a Pokeball at it?"

_Pretty sure if it was that easy this wouldn't be an issue, boss._

Before Satori had time to press the issue, they came across the main road adjacent to the outer wall. The streets had been completely deserted so far, understandably, but that changed once they reached the main road. There was a large crowd of people rioting around the gatehouse. Satori couldn't believe it.

She couldn't in good conscience call them _stupid, _since she was also out and about despite the city under active siege too. But escaping the city hardly seemed valuable anymore, the window of escape should long be past.

The people were desperately attacking each other to get through the gate. A few of them had even summoned Pokemon, and were attacking the others with them indiscriminately.

Satori didn't blame them. But she didn't like it either.

A few of the rioters had noticed her, but none moved to attack. They kept her in the corner of her eye, and Satori could hear their thoughts. Barely, over the continual pounding of Yveltal's rein of destruction.

Since escaping wasn't part of the plan, Satori carefully turned to the right and stuck to the sidewalk across the street from the gatehouse. Once she had shuffled far enough away and made sure she wasn't trying to join the fray, she ran off.

The sight of the city was eerie. Completely deserted, cars abandoned in the streets with their doors left open. Satori jogged at her awkward pace due to her arm, slowly getting closer to the action.

She still didn't have much of a plan for stopping Yveltal. It was no doubt going to be more difficult than just throwing a Pokeball at it, but she wanted to at least join the fray with a better plan than Delphox and Pikachu throwing attacks at it.

"Do any of you guys have ideas on stopping Yveltal?" Satori asked her Pokemon.

_So we're throwing out all pretense of killing it, then? _Pikachu asked. Satori nodded.

_Make it docile, get it to run away, capture or contain it, _Delphox rattled off. Satori thanked her.

Ideas. That's what Satori needed, and Delphox just listed three potential ones. She tackled thinking about them each in turn, starting with making Yveltal docile.

Satori bounced thoughts around in her head on how to make Yveltal docile. To get it to stop attacking all together. She didn't want to write it off as impossible, but doing so seemed close to it. Presumably to get it to stop attacking would be to sate its lust of destruction and death. Somehow, willingly feeding Yveltal things to destroy and people to kill seemed _counterproductive._

Although, it might best to funnel it to areas that were less critical targets than elsewhere. But she wasn't in a position to make that sort of decision.

_Yes you are, _Delphox interrupted. Satori looked over at her, questioningly. _Yveltal wants to kill you. Presumably, it will follow you. You have the power to lead it out of the city if necessary._

Satori's eyes widened. She would need speed to do that, a car or motorcycle to outrun Yveltal. But it was an idea, one that might actually work. Problem was she didn't know how to operate either, but maybe she could find someone crazy enough who could. A policeman, maybe?

The road seemed to never end. A couple of times she thought she saw Yveltal's figure in the sky, maneuvering around columns of fire and ice and other pokemon-generated effects. But the buildings really obstructed her view of the sky.

Satori had a plan, though, which folded in Delphox's second idea into it. Satori could lead Yveltal away from the safety. It would last only as long as her life did, but it was _something. _Unless there was a way to capture it. Pokeball was a long-shot, and she didn't have access to nets or anything. Maybe topple a building on top of it?

There was another rumble, and Satori was almost knocked off her feet. She could see a plume of dust rise up not too far in the distance.

And with a loud inhuman screech, Satori caught her first glimpse of the legendary Yveltal. Between the gap in two buildings, she saw the black and red figure in the sky. A rectangular beam of bluish light spreading from its maw. Satori froze for a moment to watch the sight, before moving on.

It would be bad if it saw her.

Satori sped up as she saw another avenue another block ahead of her. One of the main ones that would stretch to the center of the city. She hurried her pace even further, and could see flames licking up buildings just a couple blocks beyond.

There was another screech from the legendary creature as Satori rounded the corner onto the avenue. In the distance was the Prism Tower, the center of Lumiose. Further down the avenue were police vans and tanks, firing their weapons at Yveltal.

Satori began to approach, but her feet glued to the ground a second later as she looked forward. Yveltal had risen above the tower in its full glory, the tower pointing to it. Its red and black wings spread out forming a 'Y' shape with its tail.

There was nothing she could do as Yveltal opened its jaw and released a beam of blue energy. The beam shot down towards the base of the tower, the entire city shaking from the impact. A horrible grinding noise echoed throughout the avenue as the tower suddenly lurched down and teetered to one side by about ten degrees.

It seemed to stabilize for a second before a squealing of metal sounded, and something at the base of the tower gave way. The entire building slowly caved in on itself, smoke and dust billowing out as the debris fell to the ground.

Satori couldn't see anything through the dust, but she didn't have to. It was clear the tower had fallen, collapsed completely and utterly. And she realized.

Realized the futility of fighting it.

Realized the power it commanded was unbeatable.

But seeing Yveltal fly above the collapsing tower made her realize something else. Something she had written off and taken for granted. She had run towards it with little to no information, forming a loose-fitting plan based on false assumptions. Because she hadn't asked herself something important. The question that could slay monsters and topple gods. The question that was staring her in the face.

_Why?_

Yveltal's wings beat as the clouds and ash swirled around it, and darkness itself radiated from its body. Tierno had compared it to a force of nature, a hurricane or tornado. But that was wrong.

Because it was thinking.

It was conscious, it was planning, and it had a goal.

_WHY?_

The monster turned its head from side to side, but then it centered, focusing on a single point. It took a moment for Satori to realize what it had focused on. _Her._

"_WHY?"_


	11. Voltage 3

_Satori in Kalos_

**Chapter 11  
><strong>**Voltage 3**

It had thoughts, it was conscious, and it currently had a goal.

_**FOUND YOU, LITTLE MURDERER**_

The fact that goal was to murder Satori was, ultimately, inconsequential. Oh it was worrying, sure, but the important thing wasn't the fact it was trying to murder Satori. It was _why _it was trying to murder Satori.

That didn't really stop her from breaking into a cold sweat and running back the way she came.

But on a grander scale, why it was trying to destroy and kill everything in the first place was the even bigger question. It was conscious, and had thoughts, and had a goal. This wasn't speculation to Satori, it was _fact. _She _heard them. _And apparently, it heard her. Which means it had a reason for what it did. A rational for it.

So if Satori wanted to understand how to stop it, she had to understand _it. _Which meant...

Satori rubbed her Third Eye, which didn't seem very irritated by the smoke and ash despite the fact it was a giant eyeball. The question that Satori was almost forced to ask when she dug around in her victims minds was "why?" What was their trauma, why was it a trauma, and how did it make them who they are?

Viola had reservations about the Vivillion, and Satori had found her trauma by asking why. Grant needed to push his limits, even if it was minor. Korrina had worries about mega evolution. All of these facts which led Satori to her victory had stemmed from asking _why._

So why was Yveltal on the warpath?

To find out, Satori would have to delve into the mind of the beast.

_**INVADER**_

Satori began her assault. She turned and stared at Yveltal's flying form, opened her Third Eye and assaulted the mind of the monster.

A torrent of emotion flooded into her from Yveltal. A single emotion so strong, so powerful, that it almost knocked Satori off her feet. A tremendous fear of dying.

Yveltal turned its head and locked onto Satori, beating its wings more rapidly as it sped towards her. Satori pulled some of her focus away to run into the alleyways, hoping to at least break line of sight.

The fear she read was not surprising, Yveltal was currently trying to be killed by as many people as Kalos could muster. She had to go deeper, but it was hard when she was otherwise distracted. There had to be something more, at the core of Yveltal. A trauma. There always was.

Satori just had to find it.

**Running away, little Satori? **

The voice was less of a mental shout, and more of a taunt this time. Satori shivered as she ran and glancing at her Pokemon she realized they heard it too. _Are you listening to my thoughts?_

**You're the one who opened the connection, invader. I will not let you kill me.**

Satori looked up as she heard the beat of heavy wings. Yveltal appeared above her, its form above the tall buildings that stretched on either side. They were too close for Yveltal to drop lower, but it had found her.

_No no no!_

Yveltal opened its maw, but Delphox was a second quicker. It raised its branch towards Yveltal and a stream of fire erupted from the fox. Yveltal dodged out of the way, but enough to put it out of sight for a brief moment. Satori used the opportunity to run right back out of the alley back onto the main street and hide under one of the overhangs.

Satori was really hoping that it relied on sight and not some other ability to locate her. She used the momentary pause to catch her breath and push deeper into Yveltal's mind.

**Stop it!**

All that Satori uncovered was more fear of death. She had never tried to read something like this before. Looking for that kernel of fear and trauma was fairly easy in humans. Pokemon and animals didn't really have any, their fears and desires were more primal. But Yveltal was something else entirely.

Before Satori could find Yveltal's trauma, a loud noise drowned out everything. A screeching of metal and crumbling of stone echoed as a rumble knocked Satori onto her knees. She looked to her left to see the adjacent building attacked by Yveltal's rays.

Satori took that as her cue to run in the opposite direction. She knew it was what Yveltal intended, but she didn't exactly have any other option.

**Found you.**

Seeing as how Satori was fleeing for her life in the middle of the street, it wasn't surprising. Satori shouted at her Pokemon to distract it, and flames and lightning flew towards Yveltal as she ran in the opposite direction.

Delphox and Pikachu had no intention of staying behind, and launched their attacks while running. Accuracy was bad, but it served to force Yveltal to evade at the very least. It feared dying, and Satori figured it would prioritize evading rather than eating the attack and attacking.

_Aaarrggg!_

Absol made a horrible noise, and Satori turned around to see if she was still following her. A piece of debris from the collapsing building had hit Absol, and she was currently lying on the ground. Blood slowly pooled around her.

"No, Absol!" Satori shouted. She stopped running and turned back to try to help her Pokemon. There was a deep gash running along its back, and at least one of its legs was broken. She froze, not knowing what to do.

Delphox and Pikachu launched more of their long-range attacks at Yveltal in an attempt to keep it on the defensive. Satori didn't know what to do.

_Mistress..._ Absol sounded weak. _Recall me..._

It took a second for Satori to realize what it had said, and fumbled around her roster for Absol's empty pokeball. She held it out, and in a red light Absol was absorbed back into the pokeball.

Satori had no idea whether or not it was actually safe. She didn't know how pokeballs worked. What she did know was Absol just sustained a severe injury, far worse than it had during any battle.

_Master, there is no time to think about it, _Delphox said. _We must run. Now._

Satori shook her head and turned tail to keep running. Delphox and Pikachu joined her, keeping up their assault on Yveltal. They wouldn't be able to keep it up for long before they ran out of energy, but if there was ever a time to run on full steam it was now.

Before Satori got too much further, several vehicles nearly ran her over. She had to quickly dodge to the sidewalk against a building as several vans and cars sped past her. Even more parked in front of her and numerous officers and trainers got out. Satori recognized a few of them, the gym leaders Viola, Grant and Korrina were all there. They began to attack Yveltal along with everyone else.

The momentary distraction let Satori focus more on her mental assault. The KPD and Kalos trainers would keep it occupied. Although Satori couldn't by any means draw a breath of _relief, _it was the closest thing she could muster.

**Damn you, little monster. Stand behind your wall of murderers as long as you want, I am coming for you. I will destroy you.**

Satori pressed with as much force as she could muster, desperately trying to find out what made Yveltal tick. The reasons why it was on a warpath of destruction and mayhem. But no matter how hard she looked, all Satori could find was that one, ever present fear. Of not dying. The fear of death.

Was its situation that overpowering? Was the entirety of Kalos's attempt to kill it overriding everything else about the creature? Satori didn't know. Maybe the simpler solution was correct, she just wasn't skilled enough to find it.

"Hey!" Satori shouted towards one of the officers. He didn't have any pokemon, just an assault rifle. Still, he dutifully sprayed bullets at the legendary monster for all the good it would do. He didn't respond until his gun ran out of ammo, and glanced over as he loaded in another magazine.

"What?" He shouted.

"It's after _me! _Yveltal is trying to kill _me!"_

"It's trying to kill all of us, girl. Get out of here while you still can." With that, the man turned his rifle up again and unleashed another barrage from his weapon. Satori wasn't far away enough to not be bothered by the sound. It was loud, and hurt her ears. But that was the least of her concerns, and it wasn't nearly as bad as having it go off right in her face.

After the man spent his next magazine, Satori shouted at him again. "No, it's after me specifically. It knows who I am for some reason."

**I will not be bound, mind-reader. I will not be murdered, murderer.**

"That's the fear getting to you, try to ignore it." The man shouted. Satori was frustrated at the man, but couldn't say anything as he reloaded and fired again. He was really quick, and there was hardly enough time to get in edgewise.

Once his third magazine was spent and unceremoniously dropped from the gun to fall at his feet, Satori shouted at him one last time. "I'll prove it—watch."

Satori then ran out into the middle of the street, trying to put distance between her and the rest of the formation of cop cars and vans. _What the hell are you doing? _Both of her Pokemon shouted, but she ignored them.

"Come and get me Yveltal!" Satori then flipped off the legendary manifestation of death and destruction as she ran in the center of the street.

**You are far too arrogant for your own good. That will be your last mistake.**

Yveltal opened its maw, and unleashed another beam of life-stealing energy at Satori. A lone target, in the middle of the street. Even though it was exactly as Satori planned, it wasn't the best situation.

She hadn't done it out of recklessness though, and had a plan. It wasn't a very good plan, but its intent was to at least keep her alive and show Yveltal will change its tactics to target her specifically. Hopefully it would wake the KPD up to a certain degree.

Satori noticed that Yveltal's main attack, the beam that steals life, wasn't all that accurate or hard to dodge. It was highly destructive and killed anything that it touched, but ultimately it was _narrow. _Satori figured the main reason so many defending forces were still alive up to this point was because of this simple fact.

That didn't stop it from being a huge risk. As soon as Satori sensed Yveltal prepare the attack, she zagged instead of zigged, and with some assistance from Pikachu tackling her at the last moment, Satori dodged the narrow beam of oblivion by a few feet's margin.

_You're absolutely crazy, boss._

"Not when I've got you to back me up," Satori said as she ran to the other side of the street and ducked into another alleyway. Her heart had already been pounding out of her chest, but now it was even more so.

**You're a slippery little thing, aren't you?**

Satori grumbled. It was one thing for the legendary man-eating monster to be evil, but did it have to _taunt _her as well?

Delphox and Pikachu caught up easily to Satori as she ran through the alley, backtracking towards the main contingent of defenders. She made it pretty far before Yveltal landed on top of one of the buildings, and poked its head through the narrow gap in the alley. If nothing else, the building at least looked like it would hold from the added weight.

**Come out, come out, someone wants to kill you.**

Satori tried to dig one last time for all the good it would do, but she only ran into more of the same. She was starting to think there _was _no trauma that drove Yveltal, that it really was just a monster who desired wanton destruction.

Could that...could that really be all there is?

Before Yveltal could do anything to hurt Satori, the others adjusted their aim and fired at Yveltal. Strangely, only now Satori realized the numerous flying Pokemon circling around Yveltal attacking and scratching it. They probably only just got the opportunity since Yveltal decided to sit still.

Satori got a bit of relief when Yveltal had to turn his attention away and take flight again. It was taking a real beating, but it wasn't any worse for wear. As it did so, Satori slowly backtracked from the alley until she neared the main street. She found Yveltal's location and saw it fighting off quite a number of others.

An officer ran towards her and tossed a small radio in her direction. Satori reached out with two hands and almost dropped it, but managed to hold on.

"_Press the button when you talk," _came a voice on the radio. "_Are you the girl who Yveltal tried to kill?"_

It took Satori a few seconds to figure out how to use the radio, but it was fairly intuitive. She pushed down on the button. "Yes," she shouted. "Please believe me, I can communicate with it through its thoughts. It's trying to kill me."

"_I believe you. I can't afford not to," _came the voice. _"My name is Reimu, by the way. What's yours?"_

"S-Satori."

There was a pause on the other end. _"Were you at the power plant?"_

Satori was surprised, she hadn't remembered meeting this Reimu person there. "Ah, yeah...that was me."

"_Jesus, fate really has it in for you doesn't it?"_

Satori groaned.

"_In any case, if Yveltal really is after you then we're going to get you out of the city. If it follows you, then there will be less casualties. If it doesn't, well, at least you'll be safe."_

"T-Thank you, Miss Reimu." Satori said.

"_You should see an officer waving to you by one of the squad cars. Get in it and he'll drive you out of the city."_

Satori scanned the area and saw what Reimu was referring to. There was a single officer, gesturing for her to approach. His clothes were bloody and ripped. Satori ran towards him, and he swung around the car and opened the driver-side door. Satori opened the passenger and caught a glance of Yveltal before she sat down and pulled the door closed. Her Pokemon hopped into the back seat.

**Don't you dare run away from me, little girl.**

"It's coming after us." Satori said. "Get us out of here."

"Planning on it." The officer said, and slammed his foot on the accelerator. The patrol car lurched forward and quickly picked up speed. Satori looked out the back window, and saw Yveltal turn to follow.

Well, at least it was going as planned. Satori used her opportunity to keep up her mental assault for all the good it would do, but she lost faith it would work. So instead she focused most of her attention on thinking.

If Yveltal really was just a manifestation of destruction, then would it be conscious how it is? All Satori could find in it was a fear of death, nothing else. While it was possible that Yveltal had some trauma too far buried for Satori to find, her ability wouldn't fail her like this. If there was nothing else Satori was confident in, it was her Third Eye.

The Third Eye was not that weak. Not so weak as to not see the truth behind Yveltal. If it truly were that weak, then...things would be far easier. The pain that Satori had suffered because of her Third Eye, no, it was too strong. Too strong to not see Yveltal's trauma. Which meant that what she saw was all there is. A fear.

A fear of death.

Was it really that simple? That Yveltal feared death? It couldn't be, something didn't make sense. If it feared death, then it wouldn't actively cause it on a massive scale. A creature afraid of death would not seek to destroy everything in its path, the sequence of causes doesn't line up for that.

There was something Satori was missing. Something she wasn't piecing together. Yveltal, the manifestation of destruction. Cursed with an innate fear of death. It didn't line up. Something's not right.

Satori didn't get the chance to think further before the car suddenly swerved. She was thrown against the passenger door, and grimaced at the pain to her already-injured arm.

"Sorry," the officer said. "Gotta keep up the speed."

"It's fine, better I hurt my arm than die."

The officer didn't say anything as the car continued on its path. They were on the main circle now, traveling counter-clockwise. Satori wasn't sure what gate they were going to, but she knew the ideal would be back toward the power plant. Somewhere that wasn't heavily populated.

The car swerved again as a pillar of light struck the ground below them. A rumble shook the car as the street gave out in front of them, crumbling from the destructive attack. The car avoided the attack, but fishtailed in the aftermath. The officer tried to regain control, but slammed into a traffic light. White smoke started pouring from the car's hood, and Satori knew that it was totaled.

"Fucking dammit" the officer yelled and pounded on the steering wheel. Satori was a little quicker to react and opened the passenger door. Luckily it opened with no resistance. The officer saw her leave and left himself.

**That looks like it hurt. Come to me dear, I'll make all the pain go away.**

"Shut the hell up," Satori shouted. The destruction pokemon was not intimidated and flew towards her. Satori took this as her cue to run, but there weren't any convenient alleyways nearby. She had to run down the main road, in full view of Yveltal.

Delphox and Pikachu resumed attacking it to keep Yveltal on the defensive, but it was only marginally effective. Satori still felt nothing but that ever-present fear of death in its mind, but she also had a feeling it was getting impatient.

Other vans and police cars quickly approached, and flying pokemon assaulted Yveltal from all angles. Yveltal didn't manage to launch another attack towards Satori before they caught up to her and re-formed their formation.

"_Satori, get into another patrol car. My officers have been told to do whatever you say, it's definitely after you."_

"I need another—" Before Satori could finish her thought, Yveltal screeched loudly. Satori had to bring her hand to her ear to try to muffle the sound, but since she only had one hand she could use properly it didn't work. Her ears were really taking a beating, if she survived she was buying earplugs and wearing them constantly.

Satori ran away from the monster in fear. An instinctive response, and Yveltal chased after her. Her two active pokemon were still doing their best to defend her, but it wasn't good enough. Yveltal opened its maw and Satori sensed another oncoming attack.

But before it could go off, Yveltal was interrupted by a rainbow-colored beam of light aimed directly at its head. The attack hit its mark, aimed and timed perfectly. It by no means finished off the beast, but it manged to distract it from potentially obliterating Satori off the face of the Earth.

Satori's eyes widened when she saw who the attack came from. Running out from between two trucks was Viola, a veritable _swarm _of Vivillion and other bug pokemon flying around her. Viola met Satori's gaze and ran towards her.

"Satori, we need to get out of the city," she said. Satori nodded in response, and Viola led her to another car.

_**DON'T YOU DARE**_

A beam of light suddenly hit the car head on and eviscerated it. Satori and Viola were thrown back from the impact, as were a number of other officers. The car didn't explode, exactly, but it was on fire. Satori backed away from it and tried to get back on her feet.

"Dammit, dammit, it's not going to let me go..."

"Then we'll run," Viola shouted, already standing. She ran over to Satori and helped her to her feet, before they ran away from the combat towards one of the gates out of the city.

Satori followed Viola as both their pokemon fired shots off at Yveltal to try to ward it off. It didn't give up the chase, obviously, but at the very least it made getting an attack off difficult for the destruction pokemon.

As Viola and Satori ran, Satori glanced back to see all the people fighting get back in their cars in anticipation of having to chase their target. However, its targets were just running on their own feet.

Yveltal beat its heavy wings and lifted itself into the air, moving far faster than Satori could muster. Suddenly, the pokemon was in front of her and Viola, and lowered itself in front of them. It still flew, but it was close enough that Satori couldn't see getting past it as a possibility.

**This is not an exit. Now die.**

With that, Yveltal opened its maw and fired another life-draining attack towards Satori. Like a deer in headlights, Satori's legs locked and she couldn't move. The Pokemon of destruction loomed over her, about to drain the life from Satori.

Until she was smashed in her side by Viola and sent tumbling to the ground. As she hit the ground, Satori quickly turned back to see Viola and three Vivillions erecting barriers just as Yveltal's attack hit. Viola kept moving to try to get out of the path of the beam.

Yveltal's attack struck the barriers. They didn't hold for more than a fraction of a second before breaking through, and striking Viola in the leg as she tried to dodge.

She screamed as she toppled to the ground, but fell silent even before she hit the pavement.

**That was meant for you, little murderer.**

The words didn't really register in Satori's mind. Viola was only hit in the leg, but—

**It's enough. The oblivion will drain the life out of anything it touches. It's enough.**

Satori's hands were trembling, Viola's lifeless body lying just inches in front of her. The person Satori had been so cruel to, who she had taunted over the death of her Pokemon. Here she lay, trying to protect her.

_Master, there is no time for regret! Not now! _Delphox shouted and forced Satori to her feet. Satori was in a daze, but Delphox snapped her into enough shape to try to run away. Delphox led her into an alleyway, but Satori was only half-registering what was happening. She was lost in her own thoughts.

The Pokemon of destruction. Yveltal. It fears death, and yet causes it. But that's...not quite true. Yveltal didn't just kill Viola.

It drained the life out of her.

Yveltal absorbed the life of Viola. That attack was not one that caused mass destruction for the sake of destruction. The death and destruction was a side-effect of its true purpose. To absorb life.

And it hit her. The pieces all fell into place. Tears came to Satori's eyes as she realized the truth of the situation. Yveltal feared death, and so it clung to life. It stole the lives of others so it would never have to experience death.

It was so simple. It was stupidly simple. A being who did not want to die and was given the power to stave it off. It was not a manifestation of destruction. It was a manifestation of the fear of death. That's all it was.

That's all it ever was.

Satori emerged from the alleyway onto one of the larger avenues. She ran away, Delphox and Pikachu following. She only made it a few steps before she felt the gust of air and sensed Yveltal behind her. She spun around and toppled over onto her back. Her bag fell from her grasp and tore as it hit the ground, the contents spilling out all over the street.

The majestic figure of Yveltal spread out in front of her between the buildings. Satori couldn't help but look up at it as it descended upon her. Its talons spread out and Satori could do nothing as it crashed into her, pinning her to the pavement. The talons pressed onto her, and Satori screamed from the pain.

**Caught you.**

She struggled, but it was useless. Satori couldn't escape from under Yveltal's talons. Even breathing was difficult under the pressure. And yet it hadn't immediately killed her. Satori couldn't think it would be anything as grand as mercy, it probably wanted to just savor the kill.

Satori looked to see her two Pokemon standing still. Delphox and Pikachu. She knew they were desperate to act, but they couldn't. Not with their master at Yveltal's mercy. They were frozen in place by fear, a fear of what Yveltal would do to her if they prodded it. Forced to the sidelines.

Tears wet Satori's eyes. But not because she was about to die. What struck her wasn't a fear of death. It was because of the far too familiar scene that stood before her. A scene where she was helpless and could do nothing. A monster that was destroying itself as it fought against its very nature. Yveltal, the creature who did not want to die. Who desperately clung to life, fought against what was otherwise inevitable. Against nature itself.

"P...please..." Satori uttered between gasps of air.

**Begging for your life?**

Satori shook her head. "Please...you don't know what...you're doing..."

Yveltal stayed silent, but increased the pressure against Satori's body. She coughed, and a little blood splattered onto her lips. But she kept speaking, it was the only thing she could do.

"You're...the same..."

**We are not the same.**

Yveltal's talons pushed even harder onto Satori's chest, and she desperately wheezed. But she forced the words out, despite the pain, despite her lack of breath.

"...not...me..."

Yveltal didn't decrease the pressure, but didn't put any more on at Satori's next words. "Not...me..." She spoke between gasps. "You and her...you both...fought against your nature..." Satori coughed, and tasted blood in her mouth. "You...rejected your fates..."

Satori stopped speaking for a moment and realized she was crying. She shook her head back and fourth to try to throw the tears away, but it didn't work. She turned her head to the side, but that was all she could do.

"I...I couldn't save her, Yveltal..." Satori gasped for air. "So please...I have to save _you_...I can't...not again..." Satori's vision started to go black. "This can't...not again..."


	12. Voltage 4

_Satori in Kalos_

**Chapter 12  
><strong>**Voltage 4**

Satori slowly opened her eyes, her vision blurry at first. Her last memory was being pinned down by Yveltal, and the fact that she was seeing something else boded well. Unless it was heaven, in which case it did not bode well at all. Her surroundings were certainly white enough.

Her vision slowly came to though, and it became clear she was just in a hospital room. The walls were some off-white color, the floor a dark blue. She looked around and the first thing she noticed was Delphox and Pikachu in the corner of the room. Pikachu looked fast asleep, but Delphox was on alert.

It noticed Satori stirring, and shook the Pikachu to wake him up. _Master, you're awake, _Delphox said. _Thank heavens._

Satori looked around and tried to speak. It hurt, and she resorted to just communicating with her thoughts. _Where are the others?_

_Absol is being taken care of. She'll live. Wobbufet is there too since they just took the roster, but he's fine I imagine._

Satori relaxed a bit with the knowledge her Pokemon were safe. As she relaxed, she realized she was holding something with a very tight grip. Her palms were almost white with the strength she held it. It was a black-and-yellow pokeball. That ultra ball Sycamore had given her way back when.

Before Satori could ask what had happened, a nurse noticed she was awake and hurried into the room. She had long, flowing purple hair and wore simple nurse scrubs. Satori noticed there were some officers standing outside her room as well, glancing in.

"What..." Satori coughed as she tried to speak. "What, uh, is..."

"You're severely injured, Miss Satori." The nurse said as she started examining Satori. "You're going to be all right, but it will take time to recover. The doctor will be here soon, I've already paged her. She'll explain everything."

Satori nodded as the nurse ran a few simple tests on her. Flashing light in her eyes, poking her body and asking if she could feel it, stuff like that. The nurse seemed pleased with the results, which gave Satori some confidence. Reading her thoughts gave her more confidence.

After no more than a minute, one familiar face and another, unfamiliar face walked through the door. In the lead was Doctor Eirin, who Satori had met back at the power plant. Behind her was someone dressed in a police uniform. She had long, brown hair.

"Nice to finally meet you in person," the brown-haired person said. Satori turned her head questioningly. "I'm Hakurei Reimu," she clarified.

Satori nodded. Speaking hurt her throat, so she decided to do as little of it as possible. The doctor spoke next.

"I'll say this now, for both of you." Eirin glanced at Satori and back towards Reimu. "Satori is currently my patient and just went through a major ordeal. You will not pester her with questions until I say you can, and you will respect that."

Reimu gave a sort of disgruntled nod.

Eirin seemed satisfied with that, and turned to her nurse to ask how Satori was doing. From their thoughts Satori picked up that her name was Reisen, but not much else of use.

Satori coughed to try to get someone's attention. It apparently worked because every eye in the room turned on her. "..ahh...can someone please...tell me what's going on," she said between coughs.

Reimu's eyes widened. "Holy hell you have no idea what you did, do you?"

"What...?"

Reimu gestured towards the ultra ball Satori held in her hands. "It's Yveltal. You captured _fucking Yveltal._"

"That's enough, Reimu." Eirin's voice was sharp, and Reimu immediately ceased speaking. "I said no questions, Satori needs to focus on getting well. There will be plenty of time for questions _later."_

Reimu shuffled out of the room with a frown, but Satori's attention was focused on what she held in her hands. She didn't really believe it, but there was a definite power inside. Or maybe her mind was playing tricks on her. In any case, she really didn't want to test out Reimu's claim.

She wasn't _lying, _at least. Satori could tell at least that much. But as Reimu left Satori caught a much more worrying thought, and knew that Eirin planned on bringing it up. At least she had the presence of mind to shut the door first after telling Reisen to get out.

Eirin walked over to Satori and sat by her bed. "Satori, you're not human, are you?"

Satori saw it coming, but still wasn't really prepared. She shook her head.

"Can I ask? If only to keep you well."

"...satori..." She said.

"Your name?"

Satori shook her head again. "Also what I am. It means mind-reader, sort of. I'm human-like but really just..." Satori rubbed her Third Eye. "...really just a youkai."

Eirin nodded. "Don't worry, as interested as I am I won't speak of this."

After that exchange, Eirin began to treat Satori and informed her of the exact nature of all the injuries she sustained. The outlook was good, and Eirin said she was going to use the best medicine available to help cure her.

That being said, the injuries Satori had sustained were worrisome, even if they were fixable. Eirin had listed them off, but Satori was unable to keep track of such a large number. Several bones had been fractured or outright broken, and apparently she had an infection. Plus ill effects from the smoke and ash...

Eirin had ordered her to stay in bed for at least two weeks, and that was if the recovery process went well. Satori decided not to go against the doctor's orders, but she did find herself getting bored by the third day of this confinement. For some reason or other, she was not allowed visitors.

Satori managed to pick up a few tidbits of information here and there from the landscape of thoughts, but it wasn't enough to draw a solid conclusion. Most of the people were either patients who knew nothing, or doctors who were focused on curing patients. It was very busy, and although Satori had a private room it was still loud.

Delphox and Pikachu kept her company, although there wasn't much to say there. Satori never let the ball containing Yveltal out of her sight, and when she slept her Pokemon guarded it. She wasn't foolish enough to let it out here or let someone steal it.

As for why she had it in the first place though, she couldn't even fathom. She asked her two pokemon but they only described the scene: Yveltal stared down at her for a moment, and right before the police arrived it activated the ultra ball and got itself caught.

There was no reason for it to do that.

"So," Eirin said as she used some sort of medical device pressed against Satori's ear. "When I said to be _really careful _about your dislocated arm..."

"Things happened."

Eirin laughed. She was putting on a somewhat lighthearted mask, but Satori could tell she was weary. Satori was unable to see the aftermath of what was happening from her hospital room. The hospital seemed to have power, but the television in Satori's room displayed nothing but static.

"Can I have some books, or something?" Satori asked.

"If you're bored that's good," Eirin said. "You're pretty doped up on medicine though, keeping your concen—"

"Is there _anything _I can do?" Eirin thought for a moment, but Satori spoke before she could even open her mouth. "Those people who want to talk to me that you're keeping out, I think I can handle a conversation or two."

Eirin looked down. "If you insist, but if you find them stressing you out, tell me. Do not get emotional, just take it easy. Your body and mind need rest."

Satori nodded, and Eirin left to go fetch one of the many people who apparently wanted to have a conversation with her. The room seemed quiet, and the only sound was Delphox pacing around the room. Satori could tell they were getting a bit anxious after spending three days in this room with her. She would have to relieve them of that, at some point.

Two people walked into the room. The girl in front was short, even shorter than Satori. She had lime green hair and walked with great authority. The woman following behind her was much taller with a more mature body, but her attitude was subservient to the shorty in front of her. Curious.

"Ahem," the green haired cleared her throat. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Satori. I am KPD Director Shikieiki Yamaxanadu. This is my subordinate, Komachi." Komachi waved at the mention of her name, and both of them dragged a chair over towards Satori's bed to take a seat. "Your name has come up quite a bit, and—"

"You want to know my story," Satori finished. Shikieiki seemed a bit put off at being interrupted, but nodded. Satori wasn't sure exactly what to say and what not to say, but the fact that Yveltal had targeted her specifically would definitely come into question. Better to rip the bandage off now.

"I can read minds."

Satori could hear their incredulity, as expected. But after a quick demonstration of predicting some highly unlikely surface thoughts and a certain dig into something more personal between them, they seemed to concede the fact Satori wasn't lying.

From there, Satori described exactly what she had experienced during Yveltal's attack. The back and fourth between thoughts. She stopped right before disclosing Yveltal's true nature though, that secret felt like something that wasn't hers to give out so readily.

"Miss Satori," Shikieiki said. "We believe—"

"Yveltal was released because of the events at the power plant." Satori said. "Some scheme by Team Flare?"

Shikieiki looked over to her subordinate, Komachi. She had been paying attention to the story, but didn't register her boss was looking at her for a few seconds. "Oh, er," she started once she noticed. "Yeah. We're assuming they were trying to revive Yveltal, although that's up in flames now. We can't find wherever they were hiding him, it's probably destroyed."

"You think I'm in danger."

They both nodded. "The team is still at large, for the most part. We don't know their exact number but we didn't by any means capture them all."

"Tenshi," Satori noted. Shikieiki just frowned.

"You are entirely too knowledgeable for your own good."

Satori smiled at that but kept quiet.

"In any case, Miss Satori, you now have to make a choice." Shikieiki straightened in her chair. "Option one is to lock that pokeball away forever, let us obscure your role in these events and move on with your life. No one will ever know and a menace will be gone from the world. Option two is to hold onto it and use it, joining the ranks of the world's legendary trainers."

"The latter." Satori said immediately. Her visitors were caught off guard by her quick response.

"Are you sure? You may not—"

"I'm sure. There is no question."

Satori had no idea what happened when she was unconscious. But she remembered what she had said, and if it was in any way connected to the reason Yveltal surrendered then there was no way she could lock it away. Ignore it.

Not again.

"It is your choice. You're going to be famous, for better or for worse, Miss Satori. The department is going to want to take a formal report from you at some point in the future, once this whole mess is cleaned up. You'll also need to stand as a witness when we put the Team Flare members on trial. Is this acceptable?"

Satori nodded. "Are you really just going to let me keep Yveltal? I expected more resistance."

"Someone has to take responsibility, and you have decided to let it be yourself. Don't misunderstand, we _will _intervene if you fail to hold that responsibility. But there's precedent for this, Yveltal is not the first legendary pokemon and it won't be the last." Shikieiki crossed her arms. "Well, we won't be totally hands off. But it's been shown that treating legendaries like actual pokemon is more effective than trying to lock them away."

With that, her two visitors stood up and left. Eirin came back in a little while later, and Satori asked her if there was anyone else. Eirin said there was no one of any real importance as far as she could tell. A number of people who had witnessed the event wanted to personally thank her.

Eirin didn't let those people in, but Satori wasn't too interested in seeing them anyways. Instead Satori gave her a list of people who, if they happened to show up, she _would _like to talk to. The list was longer than Satori realized. She wrote down her traveling companions first, and of course Utusho and Rin after that. She would have written down her sister Koishi's name too, but it made no difference. Then for good measure she wrote down the names of the youkai she took shelter with. She had only known them for a few days, but she had liked them to a degree. Lastly she jotted down Sycamore's name, and realized she had _twelve_names.

That was ten more than she really expected to ever have.

The next day some of those names showed up. It was actually the last two Satori honestly expected to see, but she couldn't deny they were the ones who she wanted to see most.

"Satori~!" Screamed Rin as she jumped into the hospital bed. Nurse Reisen looked absolutely mortified, especially as Satori winced in pain from the impact. She just kept her smile though and hugged Rin close to her chest.

Following behind Rin was Utsuho, who was about to do the same. Reisen was ready for it this time though and intercepted her. Both of them fell to the ground as Rin and Satori laughed. Utsuho recovered first and hopped over to Satori to hug her on the other side. Satori wanted to return it, but only had one good arm and Rin was currently taking it.

"How are things, you two?" Satori asked.

"Don't worry about _us, _worry about _you." _Utsuho complained. "There was all this—bam! And wow—and like, you're all hurt, and we were super super worried."

Reisen got to her feet and looked like she had some choice words to say. Satori cut her off before she could speak.

"Let them stay." It wasn't a suggestion, and Reisen backed off to go get Eirin. Satori watched her go, and then turned back to her old roommates.

"Satori, you gotta tell us the story." Rin said. "Come on, we've been good."

"Yeah, yeah, come on."

Satori scratched Rin's head and sighed. "Alright, alright."

And over the next half hour, Satori described the entirety of her experience to her visitors. They sat and listened intently, and unlike before Satori didn't leave anything out. These two deserved to hear everything in full, even the parts Satori didn't want to say herself. They were family.

Eirin had gotten near, Satori could tell from her thoughts, but had decided not to intrude. Reisen seemed upset about it but wasn't about to go against her boss's orders.

Satori asked how Rin and Utsuho managed to find her, and she said they were looking for her ever since Yveltal broke out. After it was all over, apparently the name 'Satori' became some sort of relevant keyword and they were brought back to Lumiose. Satori wasn't sure how to feel about that.

But Shikieiki had said it, she was going to be famous now. Legendary trainers were few and far between. Satori certainly didn't feel like she had mastered the art of Pokemon battles to any degree, she had just...convinced Yveltal to join her. Somehow. Maybe. She wasn't really conscious at the time.

Definitely didn't best it in battle though.

After a longer amount of time than Eirin wanted to wait, she came back into the room. Satori gestured to have Rin and Utsuho go sit on the chairs, and they did so obediently.

"Thank you." Satori said quietly. Eirin just nodded.

"Lysandre Corp has set up a rudimentary holo-network while we wait for the power plant to come back online," Eirin said. "It's for emergency services only, but if you want we could get a message out for you. Is there anyone you want to contact?"

Satori raised an eyebrow. "Bending over backwards for me?"

"Yes." Eirin didn't even try to deny it.

"Three of my friends, Trevor, Shauna and Calem, were in Coumarine when Yveltal attacked it. If you could verify they're alive, that would be good."

"I can do that. Anything else?"

"Is there a place for these two to stay?"

Eirin looked confused at the question, and turned back to Rin and Utsuho. The former was sitting patiently in her chair while the latter was swinging her legs back and fourth, bored. "You mean those two?"

Satori nodded.

"I'm sure we can set them up somewhere." Eirin finished running a few tests, and left Satori alone again. Her days were mostly boring, although now with Rin and Utsuho to keep her company they would be better. She felt more comfortable with them here.

The power returned on the one-week anniversary of Satori's stay in the hospital. At least in some limited form. Half the city was brought back online, although other towns were still without power. Still, it was enough to get the television going.

Eirin had had Satori get up and walk around some to keep her muscles somewhat active. Recovery was going well, but Satori had a feeling if she wasn't on such strong painkillers she would be still writhing in agony.

Also on that day, Satori got quite a large group of visitors. Enough that Eirin straight up _demanded _that Satori not entertain the notion of letting them all into her room at the same time. Satori agreed, and Eirin split them up into two groups.

The first was Cirno and her gang. They all looked healthy and in good spirits.

"Hey, boss." Satori said. Cirno smiled at her greeting.

"Damn Satori! You kicked ass."

"Yeah. You're totally a part of our gang now, no donation required." Rumia gave a thumbs-up.

Satori played along, but there really wasn't much to say. They hadn't known each other very long, and although it was easy to get caught up with Cirno and her craziness, Satori wasn't in much of a position of doing so at the moment.

Still, they had known each other at one of the most stressful times in all of their lives. They were likely closer than most, just from that alone. Even though Satori had in a way abandoned them at the last, critical moment. They seemed to forgive her for that transgression.

After only a few minutes, Reisen shooed away Satori's guests and brought in the next. Satori knew these ones far more intimately. Calem, Shauna, Tierno and...

...oh no.

Satori couldn't meet their eyes. "What happened?" She hadn't needed to ask, but they needed the opportunity to say it.

It took awhile for someone to speak. It was Calem who finally said it.

"Trev...he didn't make it."

"We want to do something for him. A...what is it? A wake, I think..." Shauna said. Satori saw she was wearing a medical eye patch and had numerous cuts and bruises. The others had varying degrees of injuries, although nothing compared to what Satori sustained.

Satori hesitated. "I can't leave the hospital..."

"We'll do it when you can," Calem said. Satori nodded.

The conversation was far from comfortable, but Satori gave them a rough description of what happened. She had told the story quite a number of times already, but each group she told it to had different details omitted. Mainly, this time Satori did not divulge her abilities.

She had a feeling she was going to need to come up with a standard story to tell people. But she hated herself a bit for having such a petty thought.

Satori got a few useful things out of them about the world outside her hospital bed. Yveltal left quite a trail of death and destruction in its wake, and everyone was doing their best to pitch in and get people medical attention. Others were helping to rebuild and fix the most important things.

Geosenge had been completely obliterated. It's where Yveltal had appeared and was most angry, and it went on a total rampage. There was nothing left and the number of survivors was down to the double-digits. Shalour was a likewise small town and was hit hard, but not to a crippling degree. The Tower of Mastery, however, had not endured. It toppled into the ocean.

Coumarine was hit brutally hard, the first major population center in Yveltal's path. The mountain caverns had acted as pretty effective bunkers, but it wasn't enough to hold the entire city. And Lumiose had likewise been hit hard, but Satori ended the assault before it became too devastating. The loss of the Prism Tower would be a hit to overall morale, but it wasn't actually that bad. The Prism Tower did not have a lot of actual utility.

After all of this, Satori only had one question. "What now?"

The others gave sidelong glances. Tierno shifted uncomfortably. "S-Sorry guys, but I'm going home..." The others looked at him. "Just, with the power plant thing, and then this? I'm done."

"Me too," said Shauna. "Maybe I'll start my journey back up again some day, but not now. I need a break."

Calem scratched the back of his neck. "I'm...I'm not trying to sound like the big tough guy here, but I'm going to keep going. The Lumiose gym was trashed, but when it's back up I want to challenge the leader."

Shauna and Tierno nodded in understanding and all three of them looked to Satori. She reached over with her right arm to grab the ultra ball on the side table. She winced from the pain of using her bad arm, but Eirin said the sling was no longer necessary.

Satori brought the ultra ball to rest in her lap. "I have a responsibility, now." Satori said. "I didn't really have any reason for being a trainer before other than liking Pokemon. But now...now I have a goal. And I think being a trainer is a big part of that."

"I guess it'll be just us then," Calem said. Satori grunted in response.

"Well, Holo Casters are back online with the power so be sure to stay in touch" Tierno said.

"Mine got the crap smashed out of it," Satori said. When Yveltal had attacked her, her Holo Caster had been an unfortunate casualty.

"Ah, Miss Satori," Reisen said. She had been standing quietly at the side of the room, apparently wary for anyone trying to tackle her patient again. "We can provide you with another one, if you want."

Satori should have been grateful, but what she actually felt was suspicion. "Why are you guys being so nice?"

"We were told to comply with any reasonable requests you made by the KPD, and they would fund it."

"Why?"

Reisen looked uncomfortable at the question. "Miss Satori, if you haven't noticed, you're sort of a hero."

Satori didn't have a response to that, and Reisen left to go get her a Holo Caster before she could say anything. Her friends weren't in such a rush to leave, but after a few more minutes of idle conversation Eirin seemed to want them gone. Satori was quickly learning not to piss the good doctor off too much, and bid her friends goodbye.

At least Rin and Utsuho were allowed to stay as long as they pleased, although that was through Satori's insistence more than any inherent niceness on the doctor's part. I guess that fell into the "reasonable request" category.

Reisen returned about an hour later holding a medium-sized Holo Caster box. Satori thanked her and went to work opening it up. She was eager for something to do, and setting up a new Holo Caster was fun even. Customizing the screens and tints and menus, loading desirable apps, and a hell of a lot of other things. Great way to spend time, and Satori had quite a lot of it at the moment.

The first thing she did was register it in her name and set up basic messaging. Holo Casters worked off a "cloud-based" system, so none of Satori's data was really lost when her old device was smashed. It was all stored on Lysandre Corporation servers. So all she had to do was register it under her account and it was just like before.

Satori got a surprise once it all synched properly though.

_Welcome Komeiji Satori. You have 304 new holo messages._

_Inbox (4513)_

_Saved Messages (7)_

_Spam (12)_

_Trash (0)_

Satori hesitated before clicking on the inbox icon. That number was far higher than she had ever seen it. In fact, she had more new messages now than she had total messages last time she used this thing.

_D. Poole – **Thank you**_

_C. Waters - **Thanks**_

_K. Markov – **We owe you our lives**_

_T. Underwood - **thanks**_

_F. Chavez – **I'll never forget**_

_A. Acrom – **How did you do it?**_

…

The messages went on and on, over four thousand of them. Satori couldn't believe it. She was almost in a daze as she opened up a few. Some of them were short, others of them were long. Some just said "thanks" and others told her their entire life story. It was a surreal experience.

Satori only read ten or so before turning her attention to the holo messages. She wasn't sure what to expect, but opened the first one. The figure of a young woman appeared and started talking. She seemed very nervous.

"_I, uh...the radio said that you're the one who stopped Yveltal. I looked up your number...sorry...but I just wanted to express my thanks. My family lives in Lumiose and if you hadn't...they might..."_

The woman seemed about to burst into tears before the message cut out. Satori wasn't sure she wanted to see any more. All of these people thanking her for saving their lives...she honestly didn't feel she deserved it.

She hadn't saved Trevor.

She hadn't saved Viola.

Half her friends were so demoralized they were throwing in the towel.

Satori didn't feel she did anything noble or worthy of recognition. All she did was break down at the moment of her imminent death, confess her sins and fall unconscious. That Yveltal was somehow convinced to get itself captured because of it was meaningless. Satori wasn't even trying to manipulate it.

She was just saying her piece.

Reisen walked in again as Satori opened up another message. She was polite enough to stand by the door until it finished before walking closer to give Satori another quick check-up. Satori set the Holo Caster down and let Reisen do her job.

While she was being looked over, another nurse came into the room. Behind her walked Absol, who looked about as beat up as Satori was. She had bandages wrapped around her midsection and there was a crutch affixed to one of her back legs.

"Absol," Satori said warmly. Delphox and Pikachu also hopped over to greet their companion. Absol walked over rather ungracefully towards Satori, and climbed its way onto her bed. Reisen protested at first, but gave in when Satori begged. She finished her exam quickly and left the room.

Absol snuggled up next to Satori as she scratched its head. "How are you feeling, Absol?"

_Acceptable. I greatly enjoy these 'painkillers,' as the vets call them. _

"You and me both."

Absol nudged its nose towards the ultra ball that was still lying on Satori's lap. _Is that..._

"Yeah. It's Yveltal."

_You truly are astounding, mistress. I know I followed you because I saw great things in you, but to see it firsthand is something else entirely. _Absol shifted. _Well, even if it wasn't exactly firsthand..._

"Sorry about that..." Satori glanced aside. "I really should have paid attention to you guys more, but I was so focused on saving my own skin..."

_Don't think of it like that, boss, _Pikachu said. _We took care of the little stuff like dodging and keeping Yveltal off its game while you prepared for the finishing blow!_

Delphox rolled its eyes. _Crudeness aside master, we do what we're good at and you do what you're good at. Both our roles are vital._

"Well said." Satori went silent for a moment, and then turned towards Absol. "On the subject, you did only join me to...how did you put it? Defeat the cataclysmic being of pure destruction? Now that I've succeeded, do you still want to stay with me?"

Absol suddenly looked really guilty. _Mistress, I...first off, I will never leave your side, regardless of what we accomplish. I didn't join you just because of the prophecy...I joined you for life. If you'__ll__ have me..._

"Of course, I just—" Satori cut herself off, trying to think of the words. "I'm sorry, you mean a lot to me Absol. I never want you to leave."

_I feel the same, mistress. _Absol still looked very guilty though, and Satori struggled to figure out why. It was notoriously good at controlling its thoughts.

"Absol, what is it?"

_Mistress, I don't know how to say this but...the calamity I spoke of when we first met? The being of pure destruction? That...that wasn't Yveltal._


End file.
